John Steed
This is a letter which was written in response to an article in the Alert newsletter titled "The Name of God" The author of this article put forward the view that 'G-d had many names' and that therefore the tetragrammaton wasn't important.
I write in reply to the anonymous article The Name of God in
the last issue. The author listed a number of texts preceded by
the statement: "After wrestling with these doubts in my
mind, I decided to be guided by Gods Word, and sat down and
searched the scriptures for some light on this subject. I did not
find just one name but a number of names." I agree
wholeheartedly that we should be guided by the Scriptures in this
important matter. But unfortunately the author has been misled by
the dishonesty of the translators who have substituted the word
"Lord" for the Tetragrammaton. The word
"Lord" bears no relationship to the meaning of the
Tetragrammaton, it is not a translation but a blatant
substitution on a level with the replacement of the Sabbath with
Sunday worship - check this for yourself. We must never forget
that in English we have translations only, we must always check
back to the real thing, the Hebrew, to find the truth.
If we examine these same texts with the Tetragrammaton restored
and improved translation I am sure you will see a different
conclusion.
EX. 3:14 "I will be what I will be - Thus you shall say to the
sons of Israel, I will be sent me to you."
The Hebrew phrase here translated as "I will be what I will be" is "eyeh asher eyeh" and it is a statement by the Heavenly Father
about Himself. Yes, it is His personal name, but it is in the
first person. It means, as the author of the article correctly
points out, that He will fulfil ALL our needs, He will become
whatever and whoever we need - Saviour, Healer, Provider, etc.
EX. 3:15 "YHWH, Mighty One of your fathers, the Mighty One of
Abraham, the Mighty One of Yitzchak, the Mighty One of Yaakov,
has sent me to you. This is My name forever and My remembrance to
all generations."
YHWH - the Tetragrammaton, is the "I will be" statement in the third
person and present tense - "He is" or "The Existent One. "
YHWH is the name by which we can call upon our Creator - it is
used around 7,000 times in Scripture.
EX. 6:3 "I appeared to Abraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov, as
El Shaddai (Mighty One All Powerful). And My name YHWH did I not
reveal Myself to them?"
This verse has been sorely mistranslated in the past. The Hebrew
does not say that El Shaddai is a name, rather it is the role in
which YHWH revealed Himself to the fathers.
EX. 34:14 "For YHWH, whose name is jealous, is a jealous Mighty
One."
This text does not mean that we are to call Him by the name
Jealous. Rather it means that His name - YHWH - is a jealous
name. How is it jealous? It means that He fills ALL our needs, it
leaves NO ROOM for other mighty ones! Read the first command -
EX. 20:3.
DE. 28:58 ."...to fear this esteemed and awesome name, YHWH, your Mighty One."
PS. 68:4 "Sing to the Mighty One, sing praises to His name.
Raise up a highway for Him who rides through the deserts, by His
name Yah and exult before Him."
Yah (YH) is simply an abbreviation of YHWH, it is used in verse,
and in personal names (EliYah, IsaYah, etc.), though the more
common abbreviation is Yahu (YHW) as in Yahushaphat
(Jehoshaphat), Yahudah (Judah), etc.
IS. 47:4 "Our Redeemer, YHWH of hosts is His name, the Set-apart One of Israel."
IS.57:15 "For thus declares the high and exalted One who dwells
forever, whose name is set-apart (holy)."
Again this does not mean that we are to call Him "Holy", rather
that His name, YHWH, is holy (set-apart). Read the third command
- EX. 20:7.
IS. 54:5 "For your Maker is your husband, YHWH of hosts is His name, and Set-apart One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the Mighty One of all the earth."
All these verses point to our Heavenly Father having only one personal name. Yes He has many, many titles, which can be called names, but these are not the same as a personal name as they demonstrate particular roles that He fills at certain times. But His personal name demonstrates His all encompassing character, and does so for all time.
I agree with the author, that being children, we like Yahushua
can approach Him as Abba (Father), and indeed should do so. But
this does not remove the fact that our Father has a name, a name
which we can use to introduce Him to a world that is ignorant of
Him. For it is only by His name YHWH that He is differentiated
from the false mighty ones of the pagan world.
Yes, there is confusion as to how the Tetragrammaton is to be
pronounced, but it is not true that it is without vowels,
Josephus wrote that the name was composed of four vowels, yes
vowels, not consonants! The three Hebrew letters that make up the
name, Yod, He, and Waw (Vav), while they are used as consonants,
actually function more often as long vowels. This means that
these letters are self contained and can be pronounced without
added vowel points (which only came along a few hundred years ago
anyway). Clement testified that the name was pronounced Iaoue,
but this was in Greek where there is no H sound. We know from
personal names in Scripture that the first three letters (YHW)
are pronounced Yahu. Hence the most probable pronunciation is
Yahueh (Yah-hoo-eh), though Yahu(h) (silent h), and Yahweh
(Yah-weh, not Yah-way), are also possible. The important point is
that the pronunciation must convey the correct meaning of "He is"- Yahueh or Yahu do that.
As mentioned earlier, the removal of the name was a sin
comparable to that of the institution of Sunday worship. The
third command says: "You do not bring the name of YHWH your
Mighty One to nought (nothing), for YHWH does not cleanse from
guilt the one who brings His name to nought." Deut. 12:2-4
says "Completely destroy all the places where the nations
which you are dispossessing served their mighty ones...And you
shall cut down the carved images of their mighty ones and shall
destroy their name out of that place. Do not do so to YHWH your
mighty One." The translators followed on from the lead of
the Rabbis to replace the name of the Creator with the names of
pagan deities in the Scriptures, removing the true name from
people's lips and memories. Their is no reason for us to continue
in this sin. It is time to return to YHWH and restore His name to
its rightful place.