| October 2023 Newsletter |
“I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.” Isaiah 42:8
Have you ever noticed that we traditionally do not call our God by His name, or have you never thought of that? I thought it was normal for our God not to have a personal name, until I began to teach myself Biblical Hebrew. I noticed that every god that people worship outside of Christianity and Judaism have a name for their god. Some Asian countries have thousands of gods, each with its own name. In our bibles, you can find the names of many false deities and gods, but in nearly every English translation, our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, does not seem to have a name.
We call the God of heaven and earth “Lord,” and that He is. God is Lord. In 1 Samuel 25:25 when Abigail spoke to king David, she said, “Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.” The word lord then is a title, not a name. It can be used for someone or something having power, authority, or influence; like a master or ruler. A whale might be called “lord of the sea”. Lord might then be used for a leader, a chief, a monarch, or a king.
In your bible, look at the section called, ‘Principles of Translation,’ or ‘the name of God.’ In summary it says,
The proper name of God in the Old Testament is shown in English as LORD (all in caps). The wording in the original Hebrew is in English YHVH, or the four Hebrew letters, pronounced Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey. Often if Adonai and YHVH is used in the Hebrew together, then Lord will appear (in upper and lower case) and GOD (all in caps) will appear to signify YHVH in the original translation. The Hebrew word of God is “Elohim,” and appears as “God” (upper and lower case). Most translators agree that YAHWEH is the correct pronunciation of the Hebrew YHVH. (See the four Hebrew letters above)
So, what happened that we used a title for God instead of His name? If you want to know the entire story, I have a teaching on this that lasts nearly 20 hours. But to get to the point, I’ll summarize what I discovered by reading the Original Biblical Hebrew.
Moses asked God this question in Exodus 3:13-14,
“Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’”
In the Hebrew, “I AM WHO I AM” means “I EXIST THAT I EXIST.” When written in proper
Hebrew it appears as this, pronounced YAHWEH. Moses knew that every god of Egypt had a name, and that Pharoah would want to know the name of the God of Israel.
His name is not ‘Lord,’ His name is ‘Yahweh.’ But again, why do we read LORD instead of His actual name? I think this is the interesting part.
From about 170 BC to the days of Jesus’ ministry, the surrounding conquering nations began to understand that if the Jews got serious about their faith, and started calling on the name of their God, then they might be able to break free from the controlling kings and emperors. One such king, Antiochus, a Greek, once he had conquered Jerusalem in 167 BC, told the Jews that they could not speak the name of their God. This was called a ‘ban,’ and had been practiced before for short periods and at different intervals. After 30 AD, when Jesus went to the cross, the Romans also placed a ban, that the name of the God of the Jews, could not be spoken publicly, but could be spoken in the temple. By 135 AD, the ban increased to not being allowed to utter the Name of Yahweh at all, and was punishable by death.
As a result of the ban, the Jewish priests came up with a hand signal, to speak the Name of Yahweh with a gesture. Many Jews today still identify with this hand signal!
The other thing that happened, is the non-Jewish Christians desired to have the Hebrew Old Testament translated into Greek or Latin. The Jews, out of fear, did not help to translate the OT correctly, and left the ban in place in the new translations. I call it a “Convention.” This ‘convention’, lasting 2,000 years, has effectively changed God’s Name to LORD, which is a title, rather than His actual name, YAHWEH.
Scholars for the last 200 years have discovered, by learning Biblical Hebrew, that the LORD or Lord, was never God’s intended translation.
The effect on the New Testament was when one of the writers of a book used God’s name in a sentence, the translators not understanding the language, would transliterate the word (keep the sound in the 2nd language, however having no meaning at all). In the Book of Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6, this occurs in your bibles as “Hallelujah” as a transliteration. The real Hebrew words behind is really two words, “Hallelu,” which means to praise, and “Yah,” which is God’s poetic name. Together they really mean, “Praise Yah.” There are a lot of people around the globe saying God’s name, and praising Him.
In Exodus 3:15 it reads,
“God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”
‘The LORD’ is not there in the Hebrew, it is rather YHVH, or Yahweh. Read properly it says, “YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”
Why shouldn’t our God have a personal name? Well, He does, and we will be saying His name forever. Translators and song writers are now using His name!
Why do I say Yahweh when reading the scriptures? Because, God’s name is a blessing, and brings a blessing. Notice this in the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:24-27, spoken in nearly every Christian church for 2,000 years.
“‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up His face toward you, and give you peace.’ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.’”
I am praying for you daily! Shalom
Pastor David Gonzalez
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