Who Heard God’s Third Double Knock?

The Bible records only eight times when God reiterates someone’s name. The first time was to Abraham. Skipping a generation, He spoke the next one to Abraham’s grandson, Jacob. More than four hundred years elapsed before God chose the opportune place and time for another double knock.

No doubt, many people thought of Moses as a has-been. He may have believed it of himself. After all, he had been raised in the royal lap of luxury and privilege. He had been carefully schooled and groomed for greater things than herding sheep in a foreign desert–and for his father-in-law to boot! This life was so far from where he had been headed.

Those youthful dreams were snuffed out when he murdered a man and, in blind terror, had to flee Egypt for parts unknown. But he had made do in Midian. Married a daughter of the local priest. Fathered two sons. Learned a new profession (if you could call it that). When he came home tired and dirty, he walked into a tent, not a palace.

Who cared that he had once been a respected and admired prince of whom great things were presumed? Who cared that he was overqualified for this shepherd work? Who cared that it was a job with no future? Moses heard who cared on a day when his curiosity got the better of him.

It was a strange phenomenon he saw: a burning bush that did not burn up. Moses stepped away from the sheep for a close look.

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am” (Exodus 3:4 ESV).

The double knock stopped Moses in his tracks. This Voice calling his name twice knew everything about him–past and present. Moses was all ears. As he listened with rapt attention, God laid out his future:

“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10 ESV).

The rest is history.

Who Heard God’s Second Double Knock?

The Bible records only eight times when God reiterates someone’s name. At the very instant every fiber of his being strained to prove his absolute faith in God, Abraham heard the first double knock. God used it the next time on his grandson.

Jacob’s plight was also woven in the tapestry of trusting God. But whereas Abraham knew he was following God’s instructions to the letter on Mt. Moriah, Jacob needed confirmation the steps he was taking were God’s orders. He had come a long way from where he was when fleeing from his brother’s murderous rage.

When he reached Bethel, he had covered 48 miles of the 400-mile escape route. Resting his head on a stone pillow that night, Jacob dreamed of a heavenly stairway. From its top God spoke:

“I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:13-15 ESV).

As momentous as that divine message of promised protection and posterity was, God did not introduce it with a double knock. Nor did God use that twenty years later in another dream:

^“Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see . . . for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred’” (Genesis 31:11-13 ESV).

The double knock did not come, either, the night Jacob tenaciously held on to God (Genesis 32:24-28) for a blessing. As important as it was, God’s blessing–changing Jacob’s name to Israel–was not preceded with a double knock.

Years had piled on top of years when God sent Jacob back to Bethel to erect an altar (Genesis 35:1). There, in the sanctity of worship, God confirmed Jacob’s name change and renewed the Abrahamic covenant with him (Genesis 35:10-15). But even this special occasion did not call forth the double knock.

Jacob’s ears tuned in to God’s double knock seventeen years short of his death. He heard it at Beersheba, the hometown he had fled for his life. That time he had run north to Haran. This time he was passing through Beersheba in Pharaoh’s wagon on his way to Egypt. Again Jacob found himself leaving his comfort zone to enter the unknown.

The first time he carried only his staff. This time he took with him children and children-in-law, grandchildren, livestock, and household goods. The first time was for survival. This time too. Both times he was shaking in his sandals, and both times God reassured him. This time, however, God invoked the double knock:

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes” (Genesis 46:2-4 ESV).

When speaking the double knock, God used the old name “Jacob,” not the upgraded “Israel” God had blessed him with at the end of their all-night wrestling event. Hearing his birth name used and doubled stirs Jacob to recall God’s presence in his life’s pilgrimage from the first Bethel experience onward.

In a twinkling Jacob reflects on who he had been without God and who he had become with God and knows he never wants to be without God. He is readied to listen intently to and obey whatever God says now.

You’ll Find It Eight Times in the Bible

Eight times in the Bible God speaks the one-on-one double knock.

“Double knock” is how F. B. Meyer (1847-1929)–pastor and author–described God’s repeating a person’s name to get that one’s undivided attention. What God was about to say was important, and He wanted the person he had singled out to be aware of its heightened seriousness. When God doubled the person’s name, He was essentially saying, “Listen up.”

Double Knock #1

Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:10-12 NIV)

Hold on! Abraham was about to kill his only son because God had told him to do it (Genesis 22:2). When he reached the point of no return, Abraham proved he would obey God no matter the cost–even if that meant his most precious earthly possession. But God did not require the sacrifice. What He wanted was Abraham’s willingness to be faithful and obedient to Him. God is number one.

Double Knock #2

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” (Genesis 46:2-4 ESV)

Jacob was scared. He had started a life-changing journey. But wasn’t he too old to be moving to a new country? a new culture? a new language? Shouldn’t he go back and die in his homeland–the land promised to his grandfather Abraham? Jacob needed God’s confirmation he was following His will, and God gave it. God confirms His direction.

Double Knock #3

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4 NIV)

God was going to offer Moses an earth-shattering job, but first He had to get him ready to listen. God knows how to get our attention.

Double Knock #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 NIV)

On the fourth occurrence Samuel did not again mistake the voice he heard as coming from Eli, the priest. The twelve-year-old listened intently as God apprised him of the judgment that would befall Eli’s household. Children are not exempt from knowing God’s business.

Double Knock #5

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

In loving-kindness Jesus corrects Martha. She was so busy doing for Jesus that she was missing out on the pleasure of His company. Enjoy Jesus!

Double Knock #6

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you 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 NIV)

As He had with Martha, Jesus sought to soothe a troubled heart. In Simon Peter’s case, however, his was yet to come. God is in our future.

Double Knock #7

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). (Matthew 27:45-46 NIV)

God the Son had carried out perfectly God the Father’s plan for His earthly life. Why the divine desertion? No one knows. But somehow during the three-hour darkness, the obedient Son felt utterly alone–totally abandoned by His Heavenly Father. We, too, may have periods of dark desperation when we cry, “Lord, I have done all you asked of me; why this?” Jesus’ sufferings pass all understanding.

Double Knock #8

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4 NIV)

Like Moses’ experience, a spectacular event captured Saul’s attention. This was Saul’s spotlighted moment of decision to resist or to yield to Jesus Christ. God lets us decide whether to get into business with Him or not.

Why the urgency of the double knock in the above lives? Visit here in the coming weeks to open those doors.