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The Name of God
By Jim Staley
Out of all of the subjects in the
Bible that one could talk, write or
study about, is there any more
paramount than knowing the very name
of the one we claim to rest our
eternal souls on? In every religion
that has ever passed through the
hands of time, there has been a
deity that is at its focal point.
And that deity always had a name. No
pagan god was ever called just
“god”, for they all had names. And
those names were given to them to
describe their attributes or
character, or what they were the god
of. The name distinguished WHICH god
you were referring to. If someone
said 2000 years ago, “god has spoken
to me”, the response that would be
given would be, “which god”? It was
understood that power and authority
only comes through the name of the
god that you called on. This is why
the ancients would say, “By the
power of Rah”, or “In the name of
Zeus”. “In the name”, is the same
thing as saying “By the authority
of”. That is what names do. They
designate by what authority someone
speaks or acts. And it is the same
way today. When the United Nations
gets together, they do not address
our president as just “president”,
for there would be many presidents
that would be in attendance. Rather
they will address him as “President
of the United States of America”.
There must be a designation of what
he is president over in order to
determine precisely who is in
question.
In the same way, no one in Biblical
times would ever call God, “God”.
But rather would either say His name
or they would designate him “God (Elohim)
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” as to
set Him apart from other gods. It is
analogous to the fact that there are
a bazillion dogs in the world and
they all have a name given to them.
Most people don’t call their dog,
“dog”. They call the dog by the name
that they gave it. And even today,
many animal owners will name the
animal after its attribute. If it’s
a horse that is very fast, they
might name him “Lightning”. If it is
a small, furry dog, the owner might
name him “Teddy”, and so on.
Virtually all animals that are
domesticated are separated from one
another by none other than a proper
name. But for some strange reason we
call the most Supreme Being in the
Universe by the most common, generic
name that we could possibly come up
with-“god”! It is like saying “come
here dog”, “come here animal”. The
next time you talk to your spouse,
if you are married, call her “wife”
instead of her name and you’ll get
to see how comfortable the couch is
that night. Why? Because it is
disrespectful. Even the most
important man in the United States
is called by his first name when
sitting at his own dinner table. Can
you see the first lady saying, “Mr.
President, could you please pass the
butter?” That would be absurd! Then,
why do those of us that know God
personally refer to him so
generically and not by His Proper
name that He told us to call Him by?
Here is a question. Do we have the
right to call God by any other name
than the ones that He gave us to
use? I will leave that to each
individual to answer for themselves
as we unravel this subject in this
study.
What is the name of God?
It’s amazing how many Christians do
not know the answer to this simple
question. My experience has been
that over half of all Christians
that have been saved (no matter how
long), cannot answer this question
off the top of their heads. Some do
not have a clue while others after
thinking for a minute, finally come
up with His name. Think about that
for a minute. It is possible that
more than 50% of professing
Christians (I believe the number is
probably much higher) do NOT KNOW
THE NAME OF THE GOD THAT THEY SERVE!
And of the 50% that do know the
name, almost 100% of those believers
do not call Him by His name! So,
let’s solve the issue once and for
all, and find out what exactly is
the name of Almighty “God.” Then,
after rediscovering His name, we
will examine the significance of
names in the Hebrew culture. And
finally, we will turn to Jesus and
find out how all of this relates to
Him and His name.
Some would argue that God knows our
hearts and understands that we are
talking about Him when we say the
name “God”. And I would agree and
respond with a personal story. I
have a neighbor from Bosnia and his
name is Mircad. For the longest time
I couldn’t understand him well
enough to know how to pronounce his
native name. So he allowed me to
call him “Mike”. But he told me he
would prefer people to call him by
his real name, but understood that
it was hard to pronounce. He gave
people grace because of the
difficulty of pronouncing his name.
I called him “Mike” for the longest
time until one day another neighbor
told me in English how to pronounce
his name. From that moment on I felt
obligated to call him by his native
born name. It just didn’t seem right
anymore calling him “Mike” after
knowing how to pronounce his real
name. I believe our heavenly Father,
in the same way and with the same
grace, understands where each of us
is at and affords us great mercy for
what we do not understand or know.
But just as a mere human would
prefer to be called by his real
name, how much more does the creator
of the universe want and desire us
to call on His real name. It is also
interesting to note that only those
that know my neighbor well call him
by his real name. Everyone else he
says at work calls him “Mike”.
In order to illustrate this point
further and to amplify how important
this subject actually is to God, I
would like to list a few verses that
just talk about the name of God from
the perspective of the Father
Himself on this subject.
Exodus 6:3 "I appeared to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God
Almighty, but by My name LORD I was
not known to them.
Exodus 9:16 "But indeed for this
purpose I have raised you up, that I
may show My power in you, and that
My name may be declared in all the
earth.
2 Samuel 7:13 "He shall build a
house for My name, and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom
forever.
1 Kings 11:36 ‘And to his son I will
give one tribe, that My servant
David may always have a lamp before
Me in Jerusalem, the city which I
have chosen for Myself, to put My
name there.
2 Chronicles 7:14 "if My people who
are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My
face, and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin and heal
their land.
Isaiah 29:23 But when he sees his
children, The work of My hands, in
his midst, They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD, that is
My name; And My glory I will not
give to another, Nor My praise to
carved images.
Isaiah 52:6 Therefore My people
shall know My name; Therefore they
shall know in that day That I am He
who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I.’"
Jeremiah 23:27 (The prophets) "who
try to make My people forget My name
by their dreams which everyone tells
his neighbor, as their fathers
forgot My name for Baal.
Jeremiah 16:21 Therefore, behold, I
will this once cause them to know, I
will cause them to know mine hand
and my might; and they shall know
that my name is The LORD.
We will discover the actual name of
God shortly. But first, as you can
see from this short sampling of
these scriptures, the name of God is
not something that is taken lightly
at all. Scripture gives it a high
priority and demands that we take
notice. Unfortunately, we do not
give it near the same status as the
scriptures do. I believe in part, it
is because we as Westerners do not
have any importance or value in our
names. We do not place the same
significance in names as Eastern
cultures do. So in order to properly
discover the power of the name of
God, we will first begin our journey
through this subject by exploring a
bit of the Hebrew language and the
meanings behind the letters
themselves.
The Hebrew language is an ancient
language that first started in
pictograph form (meaning that
originally the words were pictures
that eventually evolved into
letters.) But as time went on, the
letters still retained many of their
original meanings. Whereas the
letters of the English alphabet have
no meaning until combined with other
letters to make a word, the Hebrew
letters have meanings individually
as well as when they are combined to
form a word. So not only do you have
the obvious meaning of the word, but
you also have the hidden meaning as
you combine the individual meanings
of each letter.
God Himself emphasizes the
importance of names.
In Hebrew thought, a name is not
merely a random combination of
sounds created for arbitrary
designation. The name conveys the
nature and essence of the thing
named. It represents the history and
reputation of the being named. Many
times, Hebrew mothers would name
their children based on what they
looked like, or their initial
personality. The ancient Hebrews
believed that your name was
representative of your character.
Many believe this is why Adam was
asked to name the animals. With each
name given, he was giving them their
character and personality. (If this
is the case, I wish he would have
named the “mosquito”, the “sweet
bug”, if you know what I mean.) The
emphasis that God and the Hebrews
put on names was so weighted, that
at certain times, He finds it
necessary to change the names of
certain people to properly reflect
their new nature or prophetic role.
Allow me to illustrate.
The name “Adam” is spelled with the
letters “Aleph, Dalet, and Mem”, as
there are no vowels in the Hebrew
language. The letter Aleph means
“breath, first, leader or divine”.
Dalet means “to enter, door”. And
Mem means “water, many”. So what is
the meaning of Adam’s name?
Possibly, “The first divine leader
that entered through the door of
many waters”. Psalms 18:16 He sent
from above, He took me; He drew me
out of many waters. This is a very
deep meaning as this might shed
light on why there is such a
significance placed on the passing
through water in scripture (Red Sea
crossing, Noah being saved through
water, water baptism, etc…)
Interestingly enough, the last two
letters of Adam’s name (Aleph and Dalet) combined, make up the Hebrew
word for “blood”. And Aleph by
itself means “first or divine”. So,
his name also means, “The first one
with Divine Blood”, which he
obviously did have, as he was
created directly from the Father.
This is partly why Jesus is referred
to as the second Adam as He also had
“divine blood” and carried a similar
role.
Let’s look at Abraham who first had
the name “Abram” before God changed
it. (For the sake of time, I will
just tell you the meaning of the
words and place emphasis as needed.)
The name “Abram” means, “The first
leader of house, the most important
head of house over many.” When God
changed his name, He added a “heh”
before the “mem” and so changed the
meaning of his name to “The first
leader of house, the most important
head of house THAT WOULD REVEAL OR
OPEN for many.” The tremendous
significance is found in the
covenant and promise that God gave
to Abraham that through him, the
Seed of the Messiah would come forth
that would open the door for the
Gentiles to come near to the Father.
Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were
spoken to Abraham and to his seed.
He does not say, "And to seeds," as
referring to many, but rather to
one, "And to your seed," that is,
Christ. God changed his name from
being the “Father of many”, to the
“Father that would reveal or open
for many”. His name could not stay
the same, because his mission had
changed. Let’s move on to his wife Sarai.
First let’s look at one of the first
prophesies in the scriptures. Gen
3:15 And I will put enmity Between
you (Satan) and the woman, And
between your seed (Satan’s kingdom)
and her Seed (Christ’s kingdom); He
(Christ) shall bruise your (Satan’s)
head, And you (Satan) shall bruise
His (Christ) heel." In this passage
we see that the seed of the woman
will eventually destroy or crush the
head of the serpent. With this in
mind, let us look at how this might
relate to the meaning of the name
“Sarai” and why God changed her name
at the same time he changed her
husbands. “Sarai” means “To destroy
head of house (authority) through
hands or deeds”. Up until this point
there was no promise given that
would destroy the “head of house”
(Satan) and his curse on mankind.
All we had was the prophesy in
Genesis 3, but there was no action
taken on it until the Covenant with
Abraham. But interestingly enough,
right after God gives them the
promise of the Messiah through their
seed, He changed both of their names
to reflect the promise and their new
roles in that promise. Remember, at
this time, her womb is closed and
cannot bear children in her old age.
Watch this! He removes the last
letter (Yud), which means “hand or
deeds” and adds the letter “Heh”,
which means, “To reveal or open”.
And what did God do? He opened her
womb, so as the promise of the
Messiah could come through her! So
her new name (Sarah) would now mean,
“The one who would destroy the head
of the household (Satan) through the
opening of the womb”! And of course,
we know, that Christ came from the
line of Isaac, Sarah’s son.
Let’s do one more before we discover
the meaning of the name of God.
Jacob: The deceiver. Not exactly the
greatest reputation before God
changed his name as he was the last
born and was forced to work hard
with his hands all of his life to
get whatever he wanted. So what does
“Yacov” (Jacob) mean in Hebrew when
you break down his name to what the
meaning of each letter is? “One who
works with his hands, who has
knowledge through experience and is
last or least in his family.” Not to
impressive, huh? But after He
wrestled with the angel of the Lord,
look what his name was changed to.
His new name “Israel” would mean
“The one who works with his hands to
destroy the head of the house
(enemies), who is now the first, a
leader that governs with authority
and power and control”. And what did
Israel do? They destroyed their
enemies with great authority, power
and control. God knows what he is
doing! And for some heavenly reason,
that only He knows, there is
something highly significant about
names. Names carry reputation, power
and authority. This is why we have
power to tread on scorpions and to
“bind and loose”. Because God has
also given us a new name. And this
name carries ultimate authority.
Isaiah 62:2 And the Gentiles (that’s
us) shall see thy righteousness, and
all kings thy glory: and thou shalt
be called by a new name, which the
mouth of the LORD shall name. And
what is this new name that every
believer has written on their
hearts? None other than the name of
God.
So what is the name of God, anyway?
Let’s look in the book of Exodus.
Ex. 3:13 And Moses said unto God,
Behold, when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say
unto them, The God of your fathers
hath sent me unto you; and they
shall say to me, What is his name?
what shall I say unto them? 14 And
God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:
and he said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM
hath sent me unto you.
The phrase “EHYEH (I am) ASHER
(who/that) EHYEH (I am) DOES NOT
ONLY mean “I AM that I AM”. The
Hebrew word here is “Hayah”, which
can also mean “To be”. “Hayah” is
also not in the present tense, but
the future, imperfect tense. The
imperfect tense means that something
is undone and incomplete, to be
revealed in the future. And because
Hebrew names described the character
of that which was named, the real
meaning can also be “I WILL BE THAT
I WILL BE” as He had not revealed
His complete character as of yet.
The Messiah would bring completeness
and fullness to His great name.
15. Moreover God said to
Moses, "Thus you shall say to the
children of Israel: ‘The LORD 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 to all generations.’
Anytime you see
“LORD” in all caps like this, you
are seeing the name of God. The
Hebrew for “LORD” is “YHVH” (Yud,
Heh, Vav, Heh) or “Yahweh”. God says
that “Yahweh” is His name forever.
There is no “The” in front of “LORD”
in the original language. The verse
should say, “Yahweh Elohim of your
fathers, Elohim of Abraham, Elohim
of Isaac, and Elohim of Jacob, has
sent me to you.”
The word “Elohim” means “plural
magestic magistrate, judge”. Kings
were also called Elohim along with
anyone in great authority. You don’t
get anything out of the words “LORD,
and God”. If there were one thing I
could change among Bible
translators, it would be this: Leave
the names of God in the original
language so we can know what the
words mean! God forbid that we would
have to learn the name of God!
Christianity seems to be the only
religion in the world that does not
call their god by their god's proper
name. Even Islam calls their god
Allah!
The meaning of the name “Yahweh” is
amazing when you break down what
each individual letter means. Take a
look at this!
YUD-HAND or DEEDS
HEH-REVEALS
VAV-NAIL or SECURITY
HEH-REVEALS or OPENS
So, the very name of God means, “The
Hand that reveals the nail that
opens”. Need I say more?
Now that we have laid the foundation
for the name of God and have
rediscovered the true name of God,
let’s move on to the point of this
study. “In the name of Jesus”. If
your in Christian circles, you see
and hear this everywhere. But few
stop to find out what it actually
means.
First of all, let’s find out what
Jesus’ real name was in that time
period as it obviously was not
“Jesus”. The Letter “J” was not to
be invented for another 1600 years!
If you saw the movie “Passion of the
Christ” by Mel Gibson, then you
might recall everyone calling him
“Yeshua”. This is the short form of
“Yahoshua”, which, (Are you ready
for this?), was the Hebrew name for
Joshua. So, if “Jesus’” real name in
English should be “Joshua”, then why
do we call him “Jesus”? Where did we
get the word “Jesus”from? It is a
horrible attempt to translate
“Yeshua” into the Greek “Ieosous”,
and then they mixed in a little
Latin to end up with “Jesus”. The
name “Yahshua” (Joshua) is the
combination of two Hebrew words,
“Yah”, which is the short form of
“Yahweh” (like Jim is the short form
of James) and “Shua”, which means
“salvation”. So the name Joshua
means “Yahweh is salvation”.
Mat. 1:20-21 says, "Behold an angel
of YHWH appeared to him in a dream
and said, "Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take Mary as your
wife; for that which has been
conceived in her is of the Spirit of
YHVH. And she will bear a Son; AND
YOU WILL CALL HIM "YAHSHUA" (YAH IS
SALVATION) FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS
(YHWH'S) PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS."
The very name our Messiah was given
gives glory to the Father. And what
does “Yahoshua” (Joshua) mean in
Hebrew word pictures?
JOSHUA: (all caps are actual
meanings of each letter.)
YUD- a WORK of the HAND
HEH- to REVEAL
VAV-the NAIL/SECURITY
SHIN-that DESTROYS
VAV-the SECURITY
AYIN-of the EYE or EXPERIENCE
Pretty amazing, huh? Just as the
first Joshua was chosen to reveal
the security of Yahweh to the
Israelites that would destroy the
Israelites security in themselves,
so the second Joshua (Jesus) was the
hand that revealed the nail that
would bring true security to the
people of Yahweh and destroy the
security that man had in his own
experience. There was a prophetic
reason why Moses was not allowed to
take the people into the Promised
Land. Joshua was to be the
proto-type and foreshadow of the
True Joshua to come.
Lastly, Let's revisit the list of
verses from the beginning of this
article putting the name of God in
the place of the English word "LORD"
just in case anyone thinks His name
is not a big issue with Him.
Isaiah 42:8 I am YHVH, that is My
name; And My glory I will not give
to another, Nor My praise to carved
images.
Jeremiah 23:27 (The prophets) "who
try to make My people forget My name
(YHVH) by their dreams which
everyone tells his neighbor, as
their fathers forgot My name for
Baal.
Exodus 6:3 "I appeared to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, as Elohim
Almighty, but by My name YHVH I was
not known to them.
Exodus 9:16 "But indeed for this
purpose I have raised you up, that I
may show My power in you, and that
My name (YHVH) may be declared in
all the earth.
2 Samuel 7:13 "He shall build a
house for My name (YHVH), and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom
forever.
1 Kings 11:36 ‘And to his son I will
give one tribe, that My servant
David may always have a lamp before
Me in Jerusalem, the city which I
have chosen for Myself, to put My
name(YHVH) there.
2 Chronicles 7:14 "if My people who
are called by My name (YHVH)will
humble themselves, and pray and seek
My face, and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin and heal
their land.
Isaiah 29:23 But when he sees his
children, The work of My hands, in
his midst, They will hallow My
name,(YHVH) And hallow the Holy One
of Jacob, And fear the Elohim of
Israel.
Isaiah 52:6 Therefore My people
shall know My name(YHVH); Therefore
they shall know in that day That I
am He who speaks: ‘Behold, it is
I.’"
Jeremiah 16:21 Therefore, behold, I
will this once cause them to know, I
will cause them to know mine hand
and my might; and they shall know
that my name is YHVH.
We shall know that His name is
Yahweh. I pray that someday that
will be true and God’s people will
awaken to see that this great and
might Creator that we serve has a
great and mighty Name. And at that
name, every knee will bow…to the
name of YHVH (Is 45:23).
The Son
Now that we know the actual
name that the disciples called the
Messiah (Yeshua), and the real name
of God (Yahweh) and their Hebrew
meanings, let’s unravel some very
interesting verses in the New
Testament that are commonly just
glossed over without thought. In the
process we will see how the name of
God relates to the Son. Philippians 2:10 That at the
name of Jesus
every knee
should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth;Something that is often
overlooked in this passage is that
it is a direct quote from Isaiah.
Paul is quoting Isaiah 45:23:
“I have sworn by myself, the word is
gone out of my mouth in
righteousness, and shall not return,
That unto ME
every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear.” Yahweh
is the one talking and He says that
everyone will be bowing to HIS name
(Which we now know is Yahweh). Yet,
Paul says that everyone will be
bowing before the “name of Jesus”.
Will we be bowing to two names? Is
Isaiah quoting YHVH correctly, or is
Paul correct? Well, they both are.
It is at this point that a critic of
the bible has a hay day because of
the apparent contradiction. And
giving them our typical answer of,
“Jesus is God so it’s the same
thing” is not a thorough answer,
requires no critical thinking and is
not doing the scriptures justice.
Allow me to explain.
Jesus says in
John 5:43 "I have come in My
Father's name, and you do not
receive Me…” Yeshua came in
the name (by the authority of and in
the character of) the Father. Just
as a messenger that is sent from a
king has no authority unless he has
the king’s signet ring, in the same
way, Yeshua says his authority comes
directly from the Father and is
intimately connected to The NAME.
Watch this. Isaiah 9:
6 For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counselor, The
mighty Elohim, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.
So here it says that
the name of Jesus will be the above
mentioned titles. “Everlasting
Father”? Mighty Elohim? Hmmm…what’s
going on here? The name “Yahshua”
does not mean any of these things.
What Isaiah is prophesying here is
the fact that the Messiah’s name
would be the same name as the Father
Himself. This is confirmed in the
following verse: John
17:11--"And now Holy Father,
KEEP THEM BY THE POWER OF YOUR
NAME, THE SAME NAME YOU GAVE ME,
so that they may be one, even as
we are one."
We certainly know from
all of the scriptures mentioned
earlier that the name of the Father
is Yahweh. We now know from this
scripture that the name given to
Jesus was the same name as the
Father, which was Yahweh. So, here
we have the answer to our mystery
question. Yeshua has TWO NAMES!
He has his natural born name (Yeshua)
and His divine name (Yahweh).
Christianity does teach that Jesus
has a human nature and a divine
nature. But do we fully understand
why? Is it possible that we have
overlooked the significance of the
name of God as it relates to His
son? Could this be a direct link to
the nature of God and how the Father
relates to the Son? I believe it is.
But that is a whole other subject
destined for its’ own article space.
I do not want to offend or
burst anyone’s bubble here, but
there is no power in just the name
“Jesus” by itself. That wasn’t even
his name to begin with. I have heard
of some people that will chant the
name “Jesus” in their prayers and
songs as if the name has some
mystical meaning or power to it. It
does not. Neither is their any power
in chanting the name “Yahshua” or
any other name for that matter. The
power does not rest in the name
“Jesus, Yahshua, or even Yahweh” but
in the one Whom the name belongs.
Too often, too many Christians get
caught up in the name “Jesus” and
forget that His divine name “Yahweh’
is what brings salvation as
scripture so clearly states in
scores of places. Remember, Hebrew
names have great meaning. So when
Moses was calling on the name of God
(Yahweh), he was calling on His
character and His being. In the same
way, when we call on “the name of
Jesus” we are actually calling on
the name of Yahweh THROUGH what
Yahshua did for us at the cross.
Remember, every time you utter the
name “Yahshua”, you are literally
saying “Yahweh is salvation”. That’s
what the name means. Yashua (Joshua
in English) had always meant,
“Yahweh IS salvation.” But now it
had become a reality through what
Jesus did on the cross.
Mt 11:27
Everything has been delivered to
me by my Father, and no man
knows the Son except the Father,
nor does any man know the Father
but the Son and he to whom the
Son wishes to reveal him.
The Father is
unapproachable, unfathomable and
cannot be known (I Tim 6:16,
Rom.11:33). The only way to know the
Father is through the Son.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.
It is to this name, the
name of YAHWEH, that every knee will
bow and every tongue will confess.
Let’s look at it again and add verse
9 to the mix. PHIL 2:9 Therefore
God also has highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above
every name, 10 That at the name of
(given to) Jesus every knee should
bow, of those in heaven, of those on
earth, and those under the earth,
(my emphasis added). Why would Jesus
need to be given a new name if
"Jesus" was the all important name?
Because the “man” Y’shua submitted
himself to the will of the Father
inside of Him (which was the Word,
or Torah made flesh), and that “man”
was exalted and was given a name
that was above all names. And what
name is above all names? YAHWEH. His
earthly, natural name was “Yahoshua”
(Joshua), but he was given a new
name. And that new name would be the
same name of the Father and the same
name that he carried inside of him
while on earth. And that same name
would be the name that would be
placed inside of us to aid us in
accomplishing the Will of Him who
sends US. Revelation
3:12 He who overcomes I will
make a pillar in the temple of
my God, and he shall not go out
again; and I will write upon him
the name of my God and the name
of the new Jerusalem which comes
down out of heaven from my God;
and I will write upon him my new
name.
In conclusion, at the
risk of this subject forcing us into
the nature of the godhead and the
trinity (both which are too deep to
tackle in this article), we will
conclude by summarizing a few facts
dealing with the name of God and His
Son. The first fact is that “Jesus”
was not the real name of our
Messiah. His earthly name was Y’shua,
which means “salvation”. Secondly,
Y’shua was given a new name. That
name is the same name as the Father
(John 17:11), which is “Yahweh”.
Everyone at the end of time will be
bowing to the greatest name in the
universe, which will be by biblical
account, “Yahweh” and not the
earthly name “Y’shua”. This in no
way takes away from who Y’shua is or
what he did as Phil. 2:11 makes it
very clear that everyone will have
to confess Jesus as lord, BUT to the
glory of the Father. 11 And every
tongue shall confess that Jesus
Christ is the Lord, to the glory of
God his Father.
No Big Deal?
Some might dismiss this subject as
no big deal. As if God doesn’t care
because He knows our hearts. There
can be no question that He does know
our hearts and motives. And I do
believe that He is more concerned
with what we do than necessarily
what we say. But, as we have
examined, I think it has more to do
with that He gives us grace because
of our ignorance. But once we know
the truth, we are then responsible
to it. Besides, if He didn’t care,
then why did He tell Moses EXACTLY
what to call Him? And why would He
tell us to call on His “name”? Why
would He tell us to proclaim His
great name in all of the earth?
Would He go to that great of lengths
to make those types of statements
only for us to call Him “God”?
The point of this article is not so
that you will legalistically be
bound now to say the real name of
God, but to bring to light something
that needs to be mentioned more
often. There needs to be more
respect given to the real names of
“God” and His Son and we should use
them more often than we do. Not for
the purpose of being more spiritual,
but just because it is their real
names. And you never know, if all
believers starting calling God by
His real name, that would only leave
the pagans to calling Him “God”. And
maybe that is exactly how it should
be.
It is my prayer that through this
study, that you also will grow
deeper in your relationship with the
Almighty by recognizing His name and
the true name of His Son. The point
is for all of us to open our hearts
and minds to exalting His true name
and for each of us to allow His
Spirit to guide us in this area. For
me, it has deepened my walk one step
further, and has given my children a
real name for the god that they are
getting to know in prayer. It also
has allowed me to understand one
more block of verses in the Word.
And understanding more of the
Word...is understanding more of
Him.
JIM STALEY
Originally written-June 2004
Updated- 02/08
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