Why My God Is Yahweh – It’s About His Name – Part 1
Bonnie Nelson
This last week in the forum, I asked everyone this question?
Do you know God’s Name?
I received a lot of responses and most of them were “different.” Their answers seem to reveal God has many names. Everyone shared “The Name” they use for Him, but is it His “Name,” or is it only a title? The question arises, “Is it important for us to know God’s Real Name?” Yes, No, Maybe?
What is your opinion and would you be willing to help me expose some sacred cows? I ask you to take another look at the “Name” you use when you address Our Heavenly Father and consider if it is a sacred cow. Is it a name past down to you through man’s traditions and doctrines, or is it the Name He commands us to use?
According to Scripture, The Father seems to be pretty adamant about His Name.
He thunders: “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
One of the first things that happens when you meet someone new and want to “know” them is, you ask them, “What is your name,” and when they respond you tell them your name, “My name is Bonnie.” The salutation usually follows with, “It’s Nice to know you.”
I don’t know about you, but I have never challenged a person or argued with them when they shared their name. I understand, it is their name and once I “know their name,” it is generally accepted, you can say you know them.
I remember working a job a few years ago and one of my co-workers came up to me and said, “I am trying to think of a name for you.” She was searching to give me a “nickname” she liked. It ruffled my feathers a bit and I said, (in a nice way), my name is Bonnie and that works for me. I don’t want a nickname. I didn’t say it, but I was thinking, “Who are you to change my name with something you want?” Would that ruffle your feathers? No? Yes?
Well how about this? God, the Father put His Name in the Bible nearly 7,000 times, but because of tradition, that same holy and precious Name of the Heavenly Father was removed from His own Book.
Get this. He puts His Name in the scriptures nearly 7,000 times and
7,000 times bible translators substituted it with a generic title, such as “LORD” or “GOD.” In fact, His Name, is the 7th most commonly used word in the Hebrew scriptures. Any ruffling yet?
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back over 2000 years, the Name “Yahweh” is found over 2200 times, but since these are ancient texts, no one has dared tried to edit His Name out – yet.
I just don’t get it. I have a couple books I have written and my name is right on that front cover for everyone to see, but here is Yahweh God and He writes this book for us and people decided to remove, the Name of the Author, the God of All Creation, Yahweh, 7,000 times.
Why Remove The Name? What’s so Special About A Name?
This is what is believed to be God’s Real Name
The Word “Name” not only means, “character and reputation,” but it is also the literal written and spoken name. This definition of the Hebrew word, “shem,” is translated as “name” all throughout scripture. You have probably heard some Jewish people say “Ha Shem,” meaning, The Name.
In Strong’s #8034 Shem; a primitive word {perhaps rather from 7760 through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare 8064; an appelation, AS A MARK or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character: -+[in-]fame[-ous], name[-d], renown, report.
As you can see Yahweh’s name not only represents His character, but the Name Yahweh is also HIS MARK! What is a mark but something that is written? The Name YAHWEH also is His memorial of individuality. This definition goes hand in hand with scripture:
Exodus 3:15 (KJV) And Elohim said moreover to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, YAHWEH Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me to you: this [is] my name for ever, and this [is] my memorial to all generations.
Did you catch that?
This is My Name Forever, and this is My Memorial to All generations.
We have a lot of memorials in the United States such as, “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” or “The Wall.” What if someone went up and tried to destroy one of these memorials? Can you imagine the the outcry, the social media flood, the internet buzz and the demand for punishment we would see and hear come forth? In good conscience, none of us would even think about desecrating one of these memorials. Well? Why then would anyone want to desecrate Yahweh’s Memorial, His Name?
Who has the right to remove or change His name to whatever they want to call Him?
Why do we have “The LORD” or “GOD” and all these titles in our bibles rather than Yahweh?
It all began with a Jewish tradition called the “ineffable name” doctrine. Jews, for various reasons, started to substitute His name with the Hebrew title, “Adonai“. Adonai is the Hebrew word for “Lord.” This information can be easily verified in many Bible dictionaries and various encyclopedias and in the preface of many modern bibles. Look here: http://www.eliyah.com/ compref.html
The Encyclopedia Britannica states:
Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, His name being revealed to Moses as four Hebrew CONSONANTS (YHWH) CALLED THE
TETRAGRAMMATON. AFTER THE EXILE (6TH CENTURY BC), and
especially from the 3rd century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons.
As Judaism became a universal religion through its proselytizing in the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun elohim, meaning “god,” tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel’s God over all others.
Interesting this name, elohim (sometimes El or Elah), English form “God,” the first of the three primary names of Deity, is a uni-plural noun formed from El = strength, or the strong one, and Alah, to swear, to bind oneself by an oath, so implying faithfulness.
The name Elohim is unique to Hebraic thinking; it occurs only in Hebrew and in no other ancient Semitic language. The masculinen plural ending does not mean “gods” when referring to the true God of Israel, since the name is mainly used with singular verb forms and with adjectives and pronouns in the singular (e.g., see Gen. 1:26). However, considering the Trinity, the form indeed allows for the plurality within the Godhead.
In the traditional Jewish view, Elohim is the Name of God as the Creator and Judge of the universe (Gen 1:1-2:4a). “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to those, You want to know my name? I am called according to my actions. When I judge the creatures I am Elohim, and when I have mercy with My Words, I am YHVH (Ex R. 3:6). The Name YHVH (from the semitic root that means “to be”) and expresses the idea of God’s closeness to humans. YHVH “breathed into his (Adam’s) nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7).
At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus, replaced vocally, in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai (“My Lord”), which was translated as Kyrios (“Lord”)
in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. So, the Jews started to vocally replace the name “Yahweh” with “Adonai” (Lord) for two reasons:
- It was beginning to be believed that His name was too sacred to be uttered
- They preferred to simply call Him “Elohim” rather than “Yahweh” to demonstrate to the world that He is the only true Elohim.
While on the surface these reasons may seem honorable, they are not scriptural. If Yahweh really wanted a substitute, why would He have placed His name there to begin with?
This tradition was not practiced by the Messiah or the apostles, but it was adopted by some Christians during the early half of the 2nd Century CE/AD.
By the 4th century, this practice was well established and widely practiced.
Jerome, a 4th century “Church Father” who authored the Latin Vulgate version, substituted the name “Yahweh” throughout with the Latin word “Dominus“ (meaning “Lord”).
The tradition of replacing Yahweh’s name with “the LORD” continues to this day. Most English translations substitute the name Yahweh with “the LORD” and translations into other languages will also commonly choose a title meaning “Lord” in their own language.
I am so grieved in my spirit over this. I have wept over the depth of what has happened. To have your name stripped away, is to remove everything of who you are and what “you” have done. The Yahweh Name has been removed from the praises and worship of our lips and so much has been stolen from Him and from us relationally. We sing and bow our knees and cry out for help to a common title shared by many lords and many gods and not in the Name of The Person Yahweh, who is the Creator of All. How this must grieve Him. Do you think God cannot be grieved? Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. WEB\Gen 6:6
Some versions actually say, it broke His Heart, all the evil things man was doing. I can’t imagine how He feels or how He yearns to hear His sons and daughters call out His Name. How sad many will never say or call out His Name, because they don’t know it. The reality is, there will be many who will never know, see, or hear The Name Yahweh spoken, unless we loose it. Surely the Heart of Yahweh grieves over never hearing His People call out His Personal Name.
Yahweh is not the only one in the God family where the Jews tried to remove His Name. The Name of Yahshua (Jesus) was removed in a similar way in the text and the Jews took it to another level as they wanted to crucify Him, burn Him and everything associated with Him, so He and His Name would be wiped out from all eternity.
But Lo, Yahweh did not let them succeed in their plan to destroy the memory of His Son Yahshua and He is raising up His Remnant who will know Him and use His Name and love the sound of it in their mouth and it shall come forth like a mighty rushing wind and rivers of living water shall flow from Him to those who are His and they shall rise up with His Name as a mighty sword and this sword shall cut off the head of the enemy and many shall be saved and the praise shall raise hearts and spirits of those who have been tossed by the wayside and they shall rise up and take their place in the Army of the Lord and the Intercessors shall bring forth the heart of Yahweh and the Church shall hear and begin to birth power in their prayers to bring forth deliverance for the captives and healing for the sick and the Name Yahweh shall flow from the highest of the mountains to the lowest of the valleys and all shall know Him and that He Was and Is and Will always Be Yahweh and that there is no other god before Him. He is truth, He is life, He is love, He is the Great I AM that I AM and His People shall bow their knees to no other. And ALL shall know – Yahweh Is Great and Yahweh is Good, Very Good! Yahweh our All in All, Yahweh our Provider, Yahweh our Comforter,
Yahweh our Father, Yahweh our Deliverer, Yahweh our Healer, Yahweh our Banner, Yahweh our Savior, Yahweh our Shepherd, Yahweh our Righteousness and so much more.
The Name Yahweh will no longer be silent in my house.
What about yours?
Have you already chosen your personal sacred “name” for the Father? Are you ready to argue and say you don’t have to use His Real Name, and then jump through hoops to try and “justify” continuing to use “common titles,” instead of the Name, which the Bible says is, the Name above all Names.
Question? Is the name you call God, the Name above all names, or is it just a common law word used to describe many gods, elohim’s and lords, too?
I just read this comment: God appreciates any effort made to use His name (even though it will be different in other languages) especially in personal prayer to him. After all God is a title, like King or President, thus it’s impersonal.
Thought: My Name in Spanish is Bonita and in English it is Bonita. Baal’s name is the same in English as Hebrew and Satan didn’t seem to have a problem with the translators keeping his name intact either. It is when you substitute and transliterate names through languages they are changed.
Names don’t have to be changed. America, all over the world is, America. Don’t buy this.
Question: Aren’t we suppose to seek a personal relationship with Yahweh God and know Him?
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:12-13 NLT
My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. Hosea 4:6 NLT
Check List:
See if one of these is your response to why you would not want to use the Real Name of God?
“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?”
It is my prayer all of these questions are going to be answered through this series by the very Spirit of the Father, who will come and overshadow you with the revelation of who He is and then, you will know how important it is to know and use His Name, Yahweh, The Name Above All Names.
There is one more important issue to address in this post:
The Third Commandment
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the
LORD will not hold [him] guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” KJV
I am not sure about you, but I have always thought, this Scripture was talking about not using the Name of the Father along side a “cuss or swear” word, or any type of profanity. Some people think when someone is living in sin and continues to use the Name of the Lord, is another way of taking His Name in vain.
But for me, in checking out the definition of the word vain and thinking about people who replaced and continue to replace Yahweh’s Name, with a title of their own choosing, such as LORD, GOD, Adonai or whatever, this could also be deemed as a form of taking the Name of the Lord in vain.
How can I say that?
First, I had to go and take another look at the Third Commandment.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the
LORD will not hold [him] guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Deut 5:11 KJV
When I went back to examine early texts in the Hebrew, I found out the translation of this verse is different. The original text is not written with the words “The LORD” or any other word that carries such a meaning. What is actually there is the Father’s Real Name, Yahweh.
In the New Jerusalem Bible this is what is written:
You must not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who uses his name for what is false Deut 5:11
NJB
It is important to be a Berean today and search out the Scriptures, so we are not caught up in any traditions, which are not of Yahweh and can inflict damage to our relationship and walk with him.
I assumed (dangerous), I knew the definition of the word “vain.” However, I missed the depth of it.
vain 1. Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying. “Thy vain excuse.” … 2. Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt. …
There is a way, in which we can bring Yahweh’s Name to emptiness, worthlessness and make it have no real substance, which causes it to be void and have no value or purpose and there is no greater way to do this, than to remove His Name altogether from Scripture 7,000 times and substitute it with a descriptive word or title of our own choosing. We make it “vain” by totally removing it from the Bible, our spirit and our soul, our lives and all of our families and friends.
We loose the communication skills to share who Yahweh is. Today we see this, as many proclaim there is only one god over all. The Scriptures don’t say that, they say there are many gods. Which one do you serve? The sea of humanity, the world, is ignorant of the scriptures and since we don’t share the Name of our God being Yahweh, how can they know which god we belong to. It’s been confusing for me to find the “Name” of my God, much less someone who has never gone to church or been exposed to a Bible Study, but then if they come, which god are we preaching about. How do they know, but more important, how can you tell them who your god is, if you don’t even know His Name?
This tradition of removing the Name of the Father, His personal Name has gone far enough. In 99% of all the translations of the Bible today, His Name has been replaced. Feathers ruffling yet?
In fact, in most translations, the third commandment (as it is written) is a transgression of itself! Why? Because the third commandment forbids bringing His Name to nothing, yet most translations do just that.
Looking to the Hebrew word vain in Scripture:
Deuteronomy 5:11 (KJV) Thou shalt not take the name of Yahweh thy Elohim in vain <7723>: for Yahweh will not hold [him] guiltless that taketh his name in vain <7723>.
The number after the word “vain” in this passage refers to Strong’s word #7723 in the Hebrew Lexicon. This same Hebrew word (#7723 ‘Shav’) can also be found in another commandment just a few verses later. But in this instance, it is translated differently:
Deuteronomy 5:20 (KJV) Neither shalt thou bear false <7723> witness against thy neighbour.
This is the same Hebrew word <7723> translated “false.”
The Hebrew behind that commandment also says “bring to deso-lation and ruin,” which is exactly what will happen if you substitute other names and titles for the one true Name.
Might this shed light on the third commandment as well? Now we should know, to say the name of the Heavenly Father is “The LORD,” is actually a false statement.
Most translations are full of false statements. For instance, the King James Version reads:
Isaiah 42:8 – I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
The above is not a true statement. His name is not “the LORD”. His name is:
Yahweh
“The LORD” is not a translation of the original, it is a substitution of the original. The translators did not translate, they purposely substituted the true name of the Heavenly Father for something else so that they could follow their tradition. It should instead read:
Isaiah 42:8 (RNKJV) I am Yahweh: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
If we are seeking to keep the Ten Commandments, we should never
“replace” Yahweh’s Name with a “false name” or title of our own choosing. Would that not be breaking the third commandment? Surely we are not trying to get legalistic, but we are trying to get as close to Yahweh God as we can. Taking His Name and the Power and the Authority which it carries, out of His Word, His Book and our Lives, is breaking more than just this commandment.
People are taking away from the scriptures and adding to the scripture, is that not something we are cautioned not to do?
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Rev 22:18-19
These are two of the very last Scriptures written in the Book of Revelation, do they not bring some sort of Reverential Fear of Yahweh? He calls for us to use “His Name” and instead of using it, it has been replaced with Vanity…..as people pick and choose what name they decide is good for them and us.
How about Mal 2:1-2
And now, O ye priests [through the Messiah, this is US!], this commandment is for you. {2} If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith YHWH of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. (Mal 2:1-2 TFV)
Again in Exodus 20:7
You shalt not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name . NJV
Notice the subtle differences here, which we have grown accustomed to and give little thought.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
The Name above All Names is Yahweh, He is God.
In I Tim 1:4 it mentions fables:
3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
Fables are Jewish traditions created by men that are not in the TaNaKH. (The 5 books of Moses)
(Deut 12:32 KJV) What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it
His Name is central to True Worship and who we are. We cannot say we truly know Him, if we don’t know and call on His Name.
Yahweh is resolute about His Name. He is adamant that His people call on Him by the only Name that ensures salvation.
Psalm 83:18 confirms that He has but one Name:
“That men may know that thou, whose name alone is YAHWEH, art the most high over all the earth.”
Nowhere in the pages of the Bible will you find a statement saying He has many names. But we can find many passages attesting to His one true Name.
Now set your heart and your soul to seek after Yahweh your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of Yahweh.” I Chron 22:19