“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:23 (NLT)
The names we choose for our children are important. They usually represent something else. Even Jesus was prophesied as Immanuel, which means ‘God with us!’ Likewise, we name our children after important or impactful relatives or someone we deeply respect. We look for the biblical meaning and listen to what God would like to name this child. Shellie & I definitely did for our children. Some even passing on their own name to their child with a Junior or the 3rd included. Stetson Bennett, quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs has the fourth after his name! Likewise, names of cities have significance. Athens was named after the ancient city in Greece.
In light of this, isn’t it a bit curious that the name Vatican is so close to the name of the goddess of the underworld – Vatika (also spelled Vatica)? The origin of the word Vatican is a real mystery. About 3000 years ago a people called the Etruscans settled in central Italy. Most researchers believe that the Vatican was borrowed from the Etruscan language. Apparently, the word “vaticanus” was from the Etruscan language meaning serpent or dragon. The shocking thing was, as I began looking into this, there was quite a bit available to sift through. In other words, it has been hidden in broad daylight! I believe God is about to pull back a veil that has shrouded so many things that have been hidden right in front of our eyes!
Please ask God to open our eyes to see what’s been right in front of us for millenniums. Pray everything that needs to be exposed in this hour would be. Ask Him to prepare you for the shock and awe of what is about to be revealed. Ask Him to show you how to pursue truth in this season, and wisdom on what to do with all you/we discover! Pray for your pastor to address these things being exposed and to help the congregation through the shock and awe that will be surrounding it. Pray that the church in our city would be a place where truth and the light of Christ shines brightly from us. Thank Him for being God with us!
