by Gale Futterman
What's in a Name?
Many of us have been blessed by studying about the way God's character and nature are revealed to us through what He calls Himself in Scripture - Healer, Deliverer, Strong Tower, Righteousness, Almighty One, Creator, Holy One, Most High, Refuge, Father, and many more - but I have been on an adventure over the last couple of years that has proven deeply meaningful and life changing, so I want to share it with you. It affects me almost every time I read God's Word.
First, a little story . . . suppose you are out with your husband (I'll write you ladies to make it less complicated, but men can adapt this story to fit themselves). You happen upon someone your hubby knows and you don't, so he introduces you, "This is THE WIFE, or THE HELPMATE, or THE MOTHER OF MY CHILDREN, or THE PARTNER, or even the beautiful title, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE," but he never actually tells the person your name. Have you really been introduced? Would that person be able to call out to you if he saw you again? Those other titles are descriptions of you, of who you are to your husband, but without your name, you haven’t actually been introduced. Your name is unique to you. It identifies you, even if there are others who bears the same name.
Although God's name is used often in the Bible, the place in the Scriptures where God identifies Himself by His name is Exodus 3:14, when He speaks to Moses from the burning bush. The name God revealed to Moses (and through him to us) is made up of four Hebrew letters: yod, hay, vav, hay, corresponding to the English YHVH. This combination of Hebrew letters that make up His name is often identified by the Greek word tetragamatron. God's name, which is unique to Him, He defines in the same verse in Exodus, "I AM WHO I AM". The most common pronunciation given by the Hebrew scholars is "Yahweh" (YAH way), so that is how I will render His name here, but He never revealed to us the actual pronunciation, so no one really knows. Some would say that His name is "Jehovah", but since there was not a "J" in Hebrew, nor in Greek, nor even early English (until the year 1520), we know that Jehovah can not be the correct way to say His name.
Every time you see LORD or GOD all in capital letters in the Bible (almost 7,000 times), the original text says His name in Hebrew, yod-hay-vav-hay, Yahweh. Other things He calls Himself are sometimes titles, like King or Lord, and sometimes His name with another word or phrase attached that further describes Him, for example Yahweh Elohim (Yahweh God, Genesis 2:4-7), or even more personally, Yahweh Elohi (Yahweh MY God, Zechariah 14:5). We also find among the many things He calls Himself Yahweh Rof-ech-kah (Yahweh who heals you, Exodus 15:26) and Yahweh Yireh (Yahweh will provide, Genesis 22:14). Doesn't each one of these descriptions make you want to jump up and shout HalleluYAH! Me too!
What makes this important, you ask? One reason is that people of many cults and false religions call their god(s) "god" or "lord". Remember the confrontation in 1 Kings 18 between Elijah (the prophet of Yahweh) and prophets of Ba'al (which means "lord" or "master")? When the people saw the altar and sacrifice burned up, they cried out, "Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39). They did not say, "The Lord, He is God" because "the lord" could also have referred to Ba'al. By His show of power, Yahweh had differentiated Himself from false gods. So often He says in the Bible, "By this you shall know that I am Yahweh" – He wants us to know Him by His name, to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him.
One thing I know is that when I read the Son's words in Matthew 23:38, 39 (quoting Psalm 118:26 and in the context of Matthew 24, the last days), "See! Your house is left to you desolate, for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD (Yahweh)'"; or when I read, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name" (Matthew 6:9), it makes me shiver when I think that so few believers even know the Father's name. Frankly, so few know the Son's name, either! Remember, there was no "J" in Greek or Hebrew. You'll notice that when His name is revealed by the angel in Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31 and 2:21, it also is all in caps. Yahshua, Jesus' Hebrew name by which He was given by the angel, and used by His family, disciples, and friends, literally means "Yah(weh) is salvation." The Name He was given, and it's meaning, have such great value and significance.
It makes sense when you consider it. When we visit a different country and introduce ourselves to someone, they do not change our name into the language of their country. When we see the music written in English for a Giuseppi Verdi opera, the composer's name isn't given as its English equivalent Joseph Green. Almost laughable, isn't it? It is a mystery why the names of God the Father and God the Son are in the Bible as anything other than Yahweh and Yahshua, or in the original Hebrew so not to distort them at all. The Jewish people often say Ha Shem (the name), or more like the English translators have done, adonai (Lord), both out of honor and also because the actual pronunciation is not known. The problem remains, however, that He has admonished us to "make His name known," and replacing it with one of His titles does not make it known.
So how does this apply to us? I have found that asking Him what to do with the information we learn is part of our path of discovery. Only God knows the possibly far-reaching consequences of tampering with the Name above all names. I believe, however, at least partially because of Revelation 14:1 (the Lamb returns to Mount Zion with the 144,000, and they have the Father's name written on their foreheads), that in these last days He will be revealing more and more to believers about the significance of His Name and what we are to do about it. Still, it remains a mystery why He tells us to make His name known, but doesn't reveal to us how to say it!
For our family, for now, especially when we read aloud from the Bible, if GOD or LORD is in caps, we say our best understanding of how to pronounce what was written in the original autographs, "Yahweh", so that when we come to the word "Lord" in lower case letters, we know that it is the word that actually means lord or master (adonai in Hebrew, kurios in Greek). It helps us understand His Word better when we are aware of when His name is significant to the meaning of the passage, and when the title "Lord", speaking specifically of His authority, is more in focus. We sometimes talk to each other about His name and its significance. When speaking to Him in prayer, though, I don't call Him by His name any more than I did my earthly father. I prefer to say "Father" or Abba (a Hebrew familial word meaning "Papa"). You'll have to ask Him what He wants you and your family to do to help you bring even greater honor and glory to His name, now that you're on this adventure with us!
For further study: Acts 9:15,16 (Paul's calling), 26:14,15 (speaking Hebrew); Psalm 91:14-16; John 5:43, 10:45; Zechariah 13:9; John 12:28 (context v. 13); Jeremiah 23:26,27, 16:14-21; Psalm 68:4 (His "nickname"); Romans 10:13 (quoting Joel 2:32); Amos 9:11,12; Isaiah 52:5, 6, 42:8; 1 Peter 4:14; Malachi 2:2