The Name of God

Names are a unique thing. The name of a person represents everything about the person. It is his authority. It is his reputation. It is his personality. It is him. To know a person’s name is the key to having any personal relationship with him. It is intimacy. To call a person by his name is to invite a personal response from him. To forget a person’s name is to lose intimacy with him, to depart from him. So it is with our Creator Elohim (“Elohim” in Hebrew means “God”). Our Creator has a specific Name. His Name is above everything and every other name in existence. Everything of Elohim is bound up in His Name. To know His Name is to know Him. To know His Name is to have intimacy with Him. To know His Name is to know His power, authority and purpose. To call upon His Name is to invite a personal response from Him. Read the Psalms and you will know that this is true. But, sadly, most Christians, past and present, DO NOT KNOW the Name of our Elohim. What is His Name? His Name is hwhy in Hebrew consonants but commonly pronounced as Yahweh (hwhy is transliterated as YHWH, called the Tetragrammaton).

How is it that most Christians do not know the Name of our Elohim? This Name, Yahweh, appears more than 6800 times in the original Elohim-inspired Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and probably many times in the New Testament when it was first written. Inconceivably, and tragically, this most important Name of all names that alone gives salvation has been translated away by bible translators of most English translations and replaced with the common name of “LORD” (as distinguished from “Lord”, meaning “master”).

Please understand that while bible translations into many languages have helped to spread the knowledge of Elohim, nevertheless the translators and translations themselves are NOT divinely inspired as the original biblical writers and writings of the Scriptures). Linguistic rule calls for names to be transliterated (preserving the pronunciation) rather than translated (preserving the meaning). So, “Abu Bakar” in Malaysia is still transliterated as “Abu Bakar” in America, and not translated away as “Ash Burn” though that’s what it actually means. Or, “Wong Ah Ngau” in Hong Kong is still transliterated as “Wong Ah Ngau” in England, and not translated away as “Yellow Cow”! Therefore, “Yahweh” as revealed in the bible to the people of God, is still “Yahweh” everywhere, every time and for all eternity, because Elohim says of His Name, “Your name, O Yahweh, endures forever, Your fame, O Yahweh, throughout all generations” (Ps 135:13)!

Most of the names of the heathen deities have been preserved in the bible through transliteration, such as Baal, Molech, Dagon, Gad, Meni and Diana. However, with the Name of Yahweh, the translators inconsistently broke their own rule by translating away this most precious and important Name! They have followed the same error and unbiblical practice of the post-exilic Judasim in not pronouncing the Name of Elohim to avoid breaking the 3^rd Commandment. In doing this, they have done the very thing they seek to avoid- they have taken the name of Elohim in vain! Oh, what incalculable damage this has done to the true faith and worship!

The Name of Yahweh appears in Scripture right from the beginning of creation history. “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh Elohim made the earth and the heavens” (Gen 2:4). Adam and Eve would have known this Name for intimate fellowship. Even after the fall, faithful men called specifically upon this Name. “And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of Yahweh” (Gen 4:26). Abraham made altars to and called upon the Name of Yahweh (Gen 12:8; 26:23-25). How can men “called” upon the “name” if they actually did not know it? Thus, the argument that we are not to use the Name of Yahweh specifically does not make sense.

Just read the bible to verify that the Name of Yahweh (in the substitute form of “ the LORD”) appears repetitively in almost every page of the Old Testament, especially in the intimate prayers of the psalmists. Yahweh challenges us to know His Name and the Name of His Son. “Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know it?” (Prov 30:4). Why? Because His Name is eternal: “Your name, O Yahweh, endures forever, Your fame, O Yahweh, throughout all generations” (Ps 135:13). This is the Name that will endure for eternity, which we are to worship and remember forever! “But You, O Yahweh, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your Name to all generations” (Ps 102:12); “Oh, sing to the Yahweh a new song! Sing to the Yahweh, all the earth. Sing to the Yahweh, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day” (Ps 96:1-2). Only in this Name salvation is given and found: “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of Yahweh shall be saved”. (Joel 2:32). Elohim warns that He will NOT share the honor and glory of His Name with others! “I am Yahweh that is My name: and My honor will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images” (Isa 42:8). My dear brethren, have you given your worship to this Name?

By hiding the Name of Yahweh, we have lost one of the main keys to properly understand Elohim’s Word. Thousands of verses make little sense if the actual Name of Yahweh is not used or revealed. In biblical history, every time the people of Elohim forgot His Name, they departed from Him and went into apostasy. Though it is hard to believe, yet it is a fact that an entire nation can forget the name of her Creator, as Israel did in their time in Egypt, so that even Moses had to ask Elohim for His Name!

Then Moses said to Elohim, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And Elohim said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Yahweh Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ (Exo. 3:13-15)

It is not surprising that the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt since they had forgotten Elohim and His Name! Repetitively, Israel forgot the Name of Yahweh in their unfaithfulness and idolatry. Forgetting the Name of Elohim is synonymous with apostasy. Apostasy either results in or from forgetting that Name. One of the greatest condemnations that Elohim leveled on the prophets and leaders of Israel was that they made His people forgot His Name. “…who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams…, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal” (Jer 23:27). Isaiah confirms that Israel forgot the Name of Yahweh right to the end of their OT history, “And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You….” (Isa 64:7) Thus, Israel reaped the judgment of forgetting and departing from the Name of their Elohim. And so, one of the great end time promises of Elohim is to restore His Name among His people as a sign of the restoration of His people to Him. "Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Yahweh” (Jer 16:21).

Israel’s tendency of forgetting the Name of Yahweh was continued by post-exilic Judaism who replaced Elohim’s Name with terms like “Adonai” (“master”) and “HaShem” (“the Name”) in the mistaken belief that the best way to show and maintain reverence is to avoid usage of the Name completely! Thus, by and by, few, if any, really know the Name of Yahweh, let alone pronounce it! This continued to be the established practice of the Pharisees and ordinary Jews in the days of “Jesus”. I say “Jesus”, because even the Messiah’s Name originally given to Him through His very Jewish parents was “Yeshua” ([vwhy in Hebrew). Regardless of the argument that the original New Testament was most likely written in Greek, the only way Angel Gabriel could have conveyed the message of the birth of the Son of the Elohim of Israel to the young Jewish couple would have to be this: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). For the Name of Yeshua simply means “Yahweh is Salvation”, since even the first three consonants of Yeshua’s Name are the same with the first three consonants of the Name of Yahweh (hwhy). “Jesus” or “Iesous” do not convey that at all! Thus, Yeshua could confidently claim His ONENESS with Yahweh:

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?...11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me…20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (Jn 14:10, 11, 20)

Man may not be consistent, but Elohim is! For even years later, the Messiah appeared to a zealous but misguided young man and spoke to him in Hebrew: “And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Shaul, Shaul, why are you persecuting Me?...‘I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 26:24-26). Strange isn’t it? That the only consistent characteristic in the very fluid science of bible translation in the last 2000 years has been that the Names of the Elohim and the Messiah of Israel, Yahweh and Yeshua, are consistently and sinisterly translated away!

Thus, one can expect that one main characteristic of Messiah Yeshua’s ministry was to restore the Name of Yahweh, His Father, to His beloved people. For even the psalmist prophesied this in the OT, “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You” (Ps 22:22). Yeshua taught His disciples to pray in His Father’s Name, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name “(Mt 6:9). At the end of His ministry, He reported to His Father that He had and will continue to reveal the Name of Yahweh to His disciples:

“I have manifested Your Name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world….26 And I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:6, 26)

Not only has Elohim revealed His Name to us, but He has also put His Name on us! “Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the Name of Yahweh, and they shall be afraid of you” (Deut 28:10). All who truly belong to Elohim, Jews and Gentiles, through faith in Yeshua, are circumcised in heart (Rom 2:29), and are the true Jews in Elohim’s sight. For even the name Yehudah (hdwhy, meaning “Judah” or “Jew” in Hebrew) carries the first three consonants of Yahweh’s Name! Ultimately, for those who patiently and faithfully endure the end time tribulations without compromising, Yeshua will usher them into eternity by writing both His Father’s and His Names on them:

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My Elohim, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the Name of My Elohim and the name of the city of My Elohim, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My Elohim. And I will write on him My new Name (Rev 3:12).

Let’s draw some practical conclusions from the above discussion:

Firstly, to have true intimacy with our Elohim, let us learn to call upon His Name, Yahweh, specifically, so that we will be assured of a personal response from Him. For even Yahweh knows and calls us by our names! “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” (Isa 43:1). Many have testified how a “veil” was lifted and they experienced a greater depth of intimacy after they received the revelation of the Name of Yahweh and began to use this Name in their communion with Elohim. It is very important that you pray for the Spirit of truth to reveal this Name to you as you read the Scriptures, especially the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Only Elohim Himself can reveal and confirm this to you. Once you have this revelation and experience of the Name of Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, you will naturally begin to understand the Name of Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel…

Secondly, by using the specific Name of Yahweh our Elohim, we can safeguard ourselves from unintentionally falling into idolatry from unknowingly calling on generic or “contextualized” names of “God” which may be the names of local or cultural deities. In many cultures and languages, the name of a popular local deity is often used by bible translators to refer to the Creator Elohim in general. (Just do a simple research of this and you will know that this is true.) The bible tells us that there are many gods and many lords, whether in heaven or on earth (1 Cor 8:5). Which one are you calling out to? And “who” will respond to you if you do not direct your prayers and communion specifically to Elohim, Who is revealed by His specific Name?

Thirdly, having a revelation of the Name of Yahweh will help us to have a greater revelation of God’s covenants with Israel, and His ultimate purposes for Israel. For apart from Israel, the Church has no basis for existence, ministry or destiny. This revelation will save the Church from becoming “a thing by itself”, so that we will not be separated from the Israel of God and, ultimately, the God of Israel!

My prayer and hope for all who read the above is that they will have their eyes opened by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation!

Shalom Jerusalem! Shalom to the Israel of God! Even so, come Messiah Yeshua!

If you have any comment or query, or if you want to know how you can be saved and have a personal relationship with your Creator God through Yeshua Christ, please write to thekingdompeople@yahoo.com. It will be my pleasure to help you to know God personally. All sincere inquiries will be responded to.

Personal Notes:

1. I am aware of the debates and controversies surrounding the pronunciation of the Names of Elohim and Messiah. Messiah Yeshua says that truths (and any true personal revelation) set us free (Jn 8:32), not increase our bondage. To insist on any particular adherence of anything, including THE right pronunciation of a name, beyond what Scripture can clearly verify and confirm is to bring people back to under “the works of the Law” and, thus, bondage. We are saved in order to obey, and not to obey in order to be saved. Thus, let’s practice Apostle Paul’s very wise and scriptural advice: Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, Elohim will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. (Phil 3:15-16)

2. I have been blessed reading the Word of Elohim through using “The Scriptures” published by ISR. The “Preface” and “Explanatory Notes” were also very enlightening. Nevertheless, one thing I caution, that any “fact” gleaned from extra-biblical research should only be used as a matter of personal conviction and practice, and not to be insisted upon as general doctrine applied to all, for the same reason above of not putting sincere believers under “the works of the Law”.