Say My Name

by Robert O. Miller, Pastor

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, If you know? (Proverbs 30:4)

What"s in a name? Does it really matter if after getting to know someone that you call them by their name? And does a name really hold the identity of a person?

In the words of the contemporary song, Say My Name! The song equates respect by the usage of ones personal name. In fact the song implies if someone is important to you, you will call them by their name.

As I began thinking about that very subject my mind thought about our Heavenly Father. What is his name? Does He have a personal name? And does it really matter?

Isn't 'God' the Creator's name? The word 'god' is a common translation for the Hebrew word 'elohim'. 'God' is actually another Semitic (Hebrew-related) word which can be found in the Old Testament text as 'gad' (pronounced 'gawd'). That Hebrew word is never used in scripture when speaking of our Heavenly Father.

The translation of the Father's actual name used in most English translations is 'the LORD'. That is a pretty good translation of the Hebrew word 'Adonai' which can be best translated as sovereign or king; but that is a title not the creator's name.

The Germanic tribes used a derivative of the name Got (pronounced goot). This was the name of Odon"s father and Thor"s grandfather, both pagan deities.

Is His name Jehovah? In the Middle Ages, an Italian cleric, Peter Gallatin (1518) was trying to prove that the Mighty One of Israel and the Greco-Roman chief deity Jove or Jupiter were one in the same took the vowels from Adonai and inserted them into the tetragrammaton, YHVH that he rendered JHVH although the letter J was a 14th Century linguistic invention and has no equivalent in the Hebrew.

Can we know the name of our Heavenly Father?

It has been over 50 years since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. From the time the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947, in a tiny cave near Qumran in the Dead Sea Valley, until now, they have been the topic of much discussion and controversy.

The Scrolls provide written records of a period for which other documents of the time are very scarce. The next oldest copy of the Old Testament doesn't surface until the 10th century AD, a thousand years later. The Dead Sea Scrolls help to provide a historical understanding of 1st Century Judaism and social framework in which early Christianity originated.

It is the Scroll of Psalms 119 that we find this passage of Scripture that will help us in our discovery of the name of our Lord; I thought about my ways, And turned my feet to Your testimonies. I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments. The cords of the wicked have bound me, [But] I have not forgotten Your law. At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments. I [am] a companion of all who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts. The earth, O Yahweh, is full of Your mercy; Teach me Your statutes. (56-64)

In 1979 a strange item showed up in the Jewish Antiquity market in Jerusalem. It was a thumb-sized pomegranate believed to be the only known relic from Solomon's Temple. It was finally sold to the Israel Museum in 1988 for $550,000. It probably served as the decorative head of a ceremonial scepter used by the Temple priests during one of the ceremonies.

But what makes this important to our discussion was what was written around the shoulder of the pomegranate. A carefully incised inscription in early Hebrew characters, part of which is broken off, which reads: "qodes kohanim I-beyt [yahwe]h". "Sacred donation for the priests of (in) the House of [Yahwe]h." "House of Yahweh" most probably refers to the Temple in Jerusalem. Exodus 3:15 This is my Name forever and this is my memorial, the Name by which I am to be remembered by, from generation to generation for all generations.

So it appears that the name of our Heavenly Father was known after all. Quoting >from the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901, Vol. 1, p. 201-202 - " ...In the early period of the Second Temple the Name was still IN COMMON USE, as may be learned from such proper names as Jehohanan, or from liturgical formulas, such as Halelu-Yah. At the beginning of the Hellenistic era, however, the use of the Name was reserved for the TempleÖ. it appears that the priests were allowed to pronounce the Name at the benediction only in the Temple; elsewhere they were obligated to use the appellative name "Adonai."... ...Pronunciation of the Name by the Temple priests...also gradually fell into disuse. Tosef., SotahÖ"from the time Simon the Just died [this is the traditional expression for the beginning of the Hellenistic period], the priests refrained from blessing the people with the Name" --in other words, they pronounced it indistinctly, or they mouthed or mumbled itÖFormerly they used to greet each other with the Ineffable Name; WHEN THE TIME OF THE DECLINE OF THE STUDY OF THE LAW CAME the elders mumbled the Name....

Unger"s Bible Dictionary, p. 1177 says -" Yahweh (ya' we). The Hebrew tetragrammaton (YHWH) traditionally pronounced Jehovah is now known to be correctly vocalized yahw". New inscriptional evidence from the second and first millennia B.C. point toward this fact...."

In the Preface of the New International Version they state; "In regard to the divine name YHWH, commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton, the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as "LORD" in capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai , another Hebrew word rendered "Lord" for which small letters are used.

Today's English Version in their Preface says; Following an ancient tradition...begun by the first translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Septuagint) and followed by the vast majority of English translations, the distinctive Hebrew name for God (usually transliterated Yahweh), is in this translation represented by "LORD." When Adonai, normally translated "Lord," occurs preposed to Yahweh, the combination is rendered by the phrase "Sovereign LORD."

In the Introduction to the Old Testament in the Revised English Bible this statement is made; The divine name (YHWH in Hebrew characters) was probably pronounced 'Yahweh',

The Moffatt Translation in its Introduction, Page XX says; Strictly speaking, this ought to be rendered Yahweh, which is familiar to the modern readers in the erroneous form of Jehovah.

And The Authorized Catholic Bible says: I am who I am: apparently this utterance is the source of the word Yahweh, the proper personal name of the God of Israel. It is commonly explained in reference to God as the absolute and necessary Being. It may be understood of God as the Source of all created beings. Out of reverence for this name the term Adonai, "my lord" was later used as a substitute. The word LORD in the present version represents this traditional usage. The word "Jehovah" arose from a false reading of the name as it is written in the current Hebrew text.

When Yahshua The Messiah was teaching his disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9 he said, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed is Your Name." The Messiah thought it was holy and important to speak Yahweh's Name. In John 17:6 Yahshua said, " I have manifested; made openly known, Your (Yahweh's) name. Yahshua also said, "I am come in my Fathers Name".

In fact the name Yahshua means, Yahweh is Salvation, However, when translating the Messiah"s name into English, instead of Jesus it should have been Joshua. Wonder why this happened? Jeremiah 8:8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? Lo, the false pen of the scribes have falsified them and written them wrong.

In Joel 2:32 and Romans 10:13 it says "whosoever calls upon the Name of Yahweh shall be saved." By the time of Messiah very few people knew the Name of the Creator and so what Messiah did was reveal Yahweh's Name to the world so that the People in the world that choose to be saved. It appears we are living in just such perilous times.

When the true name is restored to the Scriptures, the Sacred Writings have more meaning, greater clarity, and greater revelation, and seem to bring the Almighty closer to us. Scriptures tell us every believer should love and call on the name Yahweh (Ps. 5:11; 69:36; 119:132; Isa. 56:6).

Exodus 20:7 Thou shall not take away the Name of Yahweh thy Elohim to bring it to nought, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that taketh away His Name to bring it to nought.

The voice of Yahweh cries unto the city, and it is sound wisdom to fear thy name (Micah 6:9,RSV). And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let my holy name be profaned any more; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy one of Israel (Ezek. 39:7). And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered [saved) (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13).

Then those who feared Yahweh spoke with one another; Yahweh heeded and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared Yahweh and thought on his name (Mal. 3:16). Psalm 44:20-21 (NKJV) If we had forgotten the name of our Elohim, or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, Would not Elohim search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart Jere 23:26,27 "How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 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

Jn. 17:6, 11,12, & 26 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it].

Acts 9:15 - But the Master said unto him, Go thy way: for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

Ephesians 3:14-15 - For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Master Yahshua the Messiah, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

Rev. 14:1 (NKJV) Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred [and] forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.

So what we have found in our quest for the proper name of our Heavenly Father is that He does have a proper name. That His name is not God, Lord, Jehovah, or Almighty. His name stated plainly is Yahweh the great I AM. That if we seek a deeper more intimate relationship with Him we should call Him by His personal name as it has been revealed to us. It does matter. Soon the presence of the Father will once again dwell in the midst of his people in an era called the Age of the Messiah. A people who are called out by His name. And I believe that time is fastly approaching: [For My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh speak, saying, "Yahweh has utterly separated me from His people"; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." For thus says Yahweh: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off." Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to Yahweh, to serve Him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be His servants-- Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant--Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My House of Prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a House of Prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:1-7)"]