WHY MY GOD IS YAHWEH – IT’S ABOUT MY NAME – PART 2
BONNIE NELSON
Hopefully, I intrigued you enough from part one of this article, so at the least, you are experimenting a little bit with rolling the Name Yahweh around in your mouth to find out what it feels like to say the Personal Name of God.
If not, give me another shot… Take a look at the list below and see if one of these statements applies to you and justifies why you don’t think knowing or saying the Real Name of God – Yahweh is important for you.
The Responses
“No one knows His Real Name – It was lost.”
“I know God knows who I mean, no matter what I call Him,”
“God has many Names,”
“No one can pronounce His Name YHWH, because it has no vowels,”
“No one can say His Name, for it is too Holy,”
“When the Bible speaks of God’s Name, it just means His Authority, not His “literal Name,”
“Well, I’m an American, not a Hebrew, so I am going to use the English words of God and Lord.”
“I don’t need to know His Real Name”
“I don’t care what His Name is”
“Hey leave me alone, I have prayed and my prayers were answered using God and Lord. So it must be OK.
“I am uncomfortable at saying the Name Yahweh or Yahshua” “I’m good, this is my way of how I talk to God” “Doesn’t God know who I am talking to?
“What does it matter what I call Him, He answers me anyway.”
“The Bible tells me what Name to use”
“How do you know this is the correct Name?”
I think I want to start with this one: God has many names, as it seems to be the most popular response. Is that you? Then you are not alone. There are many who use this statement to justify why they don’t want to use the Name Yahweh.
God Has Many Names
God has many names and I’m gonna use the one I like that suits me the best. Sound like you? Is it good to rationalize the belief since God has tons of names and they all represent and refer to Him and what He does, does it really matter which one we use? Shouldn’t we be able to just pick and choose our favorites.
Doesn’t this kind of thinking imply, none of the names we have stand above the other, so they are all equal? Do you think God will answer to any name you use and there is no one special name, no personal name that is His alone?
The God of many names, is that like saying, He has many names, but really no name? Selah
In looking at all these names for God, there is something revealed and it shoots a hole in the foot of this argument.
All of the names we are using, are what is known as, “generic titles.”
Example: If I say, “Good Morning, Miss Bonnie Nelson,” Miss is not my Name, it is only my “title.” If I were to go and buy a car, sign a lease or take out a loan at a bank, I would not be able to sign any of the legal documents with only the name, “Miss.” Miss is not my legal name and cannot be used as an authentic signature endorsement on a loan or legal document. The generic title of “Miss” can be used for millions of women, but Bonnie Nelson is my legitimate name.
Think about all the “titles” you know which “describe” God. I bet you can jot down a bunch cause we have all read and studied articles full of names that describe all the things He has done.
There are a lot of people today who don’t understand the difference between a title, which describes, versus a name, which reveals identity. How about the word, “eloah?” This title means the “Mighty One.”
Another one of my favorites is the title of a song from Amy Grant, El Shaddai. It means the “All Powerful.” Can you catch how these descriptions tell us who He is and Not His Name. He is the Mighty One and He is All Powerful. Well, who is He?
What about the titles of the attributes of God we use all the time? Do you use Jehovah Yireh (God Provides) or Jehovah-Zidkenu (Yahweh our Righteousness) and here’s one I have used in the past, JehovahRapha meaning our Healer. Here, He Provides, He is our Righteousness and He is our Healer. OK. Who is He?
Some say Jehovah, hmmm, what about this name? Bible translations everywhere use the Name Jehovah for God and so do the Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, upon some careful study, you will discover, this is Not the Name of our God and NOT the way you pronounce His Name.
First of all, it is impossible to say His Name is Jehovah, because of the fact the Hebrew language has no “J” sound! According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991, under the heading “Yahweh,” here is how this name Jehovah came into being.
“The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew word Adonai or Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being.”
Did you catch that? The name Jehovah, is really not His Name at all. It is another one of the artificial names invented by man.
Again, who are these people who have, not only removed Yahweh’s Name from Scripture over 7,000 times, but totally reconstructed, and implemented an artificial name for Yahweh into our Sacred Bibles.
Check this Out!
Many Hebrew names contain the first part of Yahweh’s Name, which is Yah.
Look at IsaYAH (Hebrew: YeshuaYAH), which means “Yah is Salvation”.
And Jeremi-Yah (Hebrew: YermeYAH)), Obadiah, Zecharaiah and the list goes on and on.
What happens if we apply this technique using the name Jehovah, with the Jeh being used, as the first part of God’s Name.
It doesn’t seem to work when we apply JEH, to the Names of the Prophets. (Somebody Call Houston – We Have A Problem)
Isaiah would be IsaJEH. Does that work for you? His name is Isaiah (IsaYAH).
LOOK at this: The second part of the name Jehovah is Hovah and this word means RUIN and MISCHIEF in Hebrew, according to Strong’s Concordance #1943: #1943 Hovah, another form for 1942: RUIN:-MISCHIEF.
Would you agree this is not a fitting name to describe our God, the Creator of Life? I think not, besides what did Yahweh say to us?
“I am YAHWEH: that is MY Name: and My Glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8
He confirms He has but one Name:
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is YAHWEH, art the most high over all the earth. Psalm 83:18
There is no place in the pages of the Bible where you will find a statement saying Yahweh has many names. However, you will find there are passages everywhere which reveal and glorify His one True Name…Yahweh.
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Are you the one who says, I speak English and not Hebrew? I don’t want to use the Name Yahweh. It’s not for me. I want to use English words.
Really? You really want to use the words God and Lord to describe “your” God?
First off, the words God and Lord are again, titles. God and lord are not personal names. They are common or generic titles and Scripture reveals there are many gods and lords. So, which one do you serve? Who is your god?
For though there are things that are called “gods,” whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many “gods” and many “lords;” I Cor 8:5 WEB
Notice Paul says, there are “things” called gods, and in the next verse he says:
yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him. I Cor 5:6 WEB
Another small issue you might want to consider here is, the word
“God” is Not an English word. However, upon some digging for the Etymology of the Name God, I did find some interesting information for those who insist on using the word God, instead of Yahweh.
Oddly enough, the exact history of the word God is unknown. Imagine that. All we know for certain is the word God is a relatively new European invention, which was never used in any of the ancient Judaeo-Christian scripture manuscripts, which were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Latin.
This situation is quite remarkable, since there is a long history of people arguing and fighting over the name of God, yet we don’t even know where the word came from!
According to the best efforts of linguists and researchers, the most common theory is that the root of the present word God is the Sanskrit word hu, which means to call upon, invoke, implore.
Nonetheless, it is also interesting to note the strong similarity to the ancient Persian word for God which is Khoda (or Khuda).
The following is a survey of some of the efforts of the linguists who have been trying to decipher the ancient roots of the word God:
Webster’s 1913 Dictionary:
\God\ (g[o^]d), n. [AS. god; akin to OS. & D. god, OHG. got, G. gott, Icel. gu[eth], go[eth], Sw. & Dan. gud, Goth. gup, prob. orig. a p. p. from a root appearing in Skr. h[=u], p. p. h[=u]ta, to call upon, invoke,
implore. [root]30. Cf. {Goodbye}, {Gospel}, {Gossip}.] http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/god
I thought it would be interesting to check on the Catholic Church and see what they say about the word God.
Catholic Encyclopedia: Etymology of the Word “God” (Anglo-Saxon God; German Gott; akin to Persian khoda …).
God can variously be defined as:
- the proper name of the one Supreme and Infinite Personal Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, to whom man owes obedience and worship;
- the common or generic name of the several supposed beings to whom, in polytheistic religions, Divine attributes are ascribed and Divine worship rendered;
- the name sometimes applied to an idol as the image or dwellingplace of a god.
The root-meaning of the name (from Gothic root gheu; Sanskrit hub or emu, “to invoke or to sacrifice to”) is either “the one invoked” or “the one sacrificed to.”
From different Indo-Germanic roots (div, “to shine” or “give light”; thes in thessasthai “to implore”) come the Indo-Iranian deva, Sanskrit dyaus (gen. divas), Latin deus, Greek theos, Irish and Gaelic dia, all of which are generic names; also Greek Zeus (gen. Dios, Latin Jupiter (jovpater), Old Teutonic Tiu or Tiw (surviving in Tuesday), Latin Janus, Diana, and other proper names of pagan deities.
The common name most widely used in Semitic occurs as ‘el in Hebrew, ‘ilu in Babylonian, ‘ilah in Arabic, etc.; and though scholars are not agreed on the point, the root-meaning most probably is “the strong or mighty one.”
UH OH ….
In the Oxford English Dictionary one root of “god” means to pour as in a molten image. Does that not fill in the blanks of why idols are known as “gods.”
I am remembering when Moses was on the mountain and the people were melting the gold down to pour and form, a golden calf to be their god. It is worth the time to revisit the Scriptures to catch the flavor of the word god and how it is used: Exodus 32:1-9 WEB
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”
- Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.”
- All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egy”
- When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”
- They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
- Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!
- They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
- Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
Now, be honest. How are you feeling about the word God? Does it really represent authority and honor in the way you thought it did? Is this really what you think is His Name? What do you think He should be called?
What about the word Lord. The word “lord” is someone subordinate to a king. “Lord derives from Old English “hlafweard” meaning “loaf keeper,” a person who headed a feudal estate “under” a king.
Is Not Our God Yahweh, King of the universe? To use the word lord to describe Him would seem to lower & diminish His Name and certainly “dishonor” Him.
In the Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon entry for “Baal” we see #01168 Ba’al: The Meaning of Baal is: “lord”
1) supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites.
The Word Lord is also related etymologically to Bel, a pagan deity. As one source notes, “In late Babylonian times the title Bel, ‘Lord,’ became synonymous with Marduk, who like Ishtar assimilated to himself various aspects of other gods,” Babylon, by Joan Oates, p. 172.
Pardon me? Lord references to Bel, Marduk, Istar, Zeus, Jupiter and Baal? No wonder Paul said there were many gods and lords.
Look what Yahweh God said to Jeremiah and the people
Jer 23:26-27 – “How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their
dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.”(LORD)
Consider what Yahweh declared to Hosea:
Hose 2:16 – (KJV) And it shall be at that day, saith Yahweh, that thou shalt call me Ishi (My Husband); and shalt call me no more Baali (My lord). For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
The Hebrew actually reads “ha Ba’al” or “the Lord” in this passage.
Because of the relationship between Baal and Lord, I don’t think I want to use this title for Yahweh, especially since now I know the word Lord is the one most used to replace Yahweh’s name.
Notice that Baal’s name has not been changed or translated in the Scriptures or old writings and therefore lives on. Oh but Yahweh’s Name, it got messed up big time and thrown out of the Scriptures and old writings and don’t forget, Yahweh’s Son’s Name, it got transliterated and removed as well, all the way down from Yahshua to Jesus.
Did you know, the word Satan is a Hebrew Word too and no one ever changed it in our Bibles, but the Name Yahweh was removed and other names substituted 7,000 times.
Could it be Yahweh has finally said, “ENOUGH!” The Pressure Cooker Lid has popped and the revelation is flowing to those who will hear Yahweh from the mountain top.
My Name shall be revealed to those who want to know Me and they shall be given My Name and use My Name and Call upon My Name and I shall hear them and I shall be there God and they shall be My People.
I certainly don’t want you to think I am saying the whole congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is worshiping and calling on Ba’al (Lord) instead of YAHWEH, but I do know one being, the one still called and known by the name of Satan, who is having a great time watching all of this with a smile on his face. Selah!
I looked to Isaiah 46 and now the Scriptures come alive as they talk about the god Bel
The Companion Bible note on Isaiah 46 says “Bel”
Bel bows down.
Nebo stoops.
Their idols are carried by animals, and on the livestock.
The things that you carried around are heavy loads, a burden for the weary.
- They stoop and they bow down together.
They could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.
- “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth,
that have been carried from the womb. 4 Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear.
Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
5 “To whom will you liken me, and consider my equal, and compare me, that we may be equal? 6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance.
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god.
They fall down—
yes, they worship.
7 They bear it on their shoulder.
They carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there.
It cannot move from its place.
Yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer. It cannot save him out of his trouble. 8 “Remember this, and show yourselves men. Bring it to mind again, you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God (Yahweh), and there is no other.
I am God (Yahweh), and there is none like me. 10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done.
I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please. 11 I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country.
Yes, I have spoken.
I will also bring it to pass.
I have planned.
I will also do it.
- Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness!
- I bring my righteousness near.
It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait.
I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
Prayerfully consider what Name you decide to call your Father
If it is not His Name we call out, will He answer?
“I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images. Isaiah 42:8
Yahweh is His Name – YHWH
