THE MOST HOLY NAME OF GOD

 Many of us pray this: “Our Father in heaven, holy be Your name…” So in our lectures we often ask our audience: “Who is your God? What is His name?” Surprisingly the answers vary: Some say Yahweh, others say Jesus Christ, still others say Adonai or Elohim or El-Shaddai.

What is the name of God? Men have given Him different names but God Himself prescribed three:  I am, YHVH and Y’shua.

I AM.  The name was first revealed to the prophet Moses (Exodus 3:13-15).

⁸ I am… that is My name. ISAIAH 42

What is significant in the name? I am was prescribed to make us understand that God is not only the Great Provider or the Ultimate Healer, but the sum total of the divine attributes. It is an assurance that He can effectively become the kind of God that each one of us needs.

²⁷ To put it concisely, “He is all.” ECCLESIASTICUS 43

The Son of God appropriated the name as His.

⁵⁸ “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am.” ⁵⁹ At this [the Jews] picked up stones to stone Him, but Y’shua hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.  ²⁴ “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins.” JOHN 8

YHVH. The name was again first revealed to Moses (Exodus 6:2-3).

²³ … tell Aaron and his sons to use the following words in blessing the people of Isra’el: ²⁴  “May [YHVH] bless you and take care of you; ²⁵ May [YHVH] be kind and gracious to you; ²⁶ May [YHVH]  look on you with favor and give you peace.” ²⁷ And [YHVH] said, “If they pronounce My name as a blessing upon the people of Isra’el, I will bless them.” NUMBERS 6 tev

YHVH is pronounced yah-weh, the Hebrews making an o or u sound of the Hebrew letter v (vav). Yah in Hebrew Aramaic means “God” and veh means “forgive”. Literally Yahweh translates to “Forgiving God.” But to be biblically precise, it means:

⁶ …the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished. EXODUS 34

How come the Jehovah’s Witnesses pronounce YHVH as “Jehovah”? Lew White said that is a mistake. He gave this explanation why:

The Hebrews originally wrote the name in tetragrammaton [four letters] YHVH. Because the name was holy and not to be blasphemed by improper use, it became Jewish custom to never use it. Vowel points were placed beneath the name to cue the [Scripture] reader not to pronounce it, but to say instead Adonai (Hebrew meaning “the Lord”). Over time, it became an offense worthy of death by stoning to pronounce the name [YHVH] aloud, except for a cohen [Jewish priest].

We must eliminate blatant errors. The tetragrammaton YHVH is changed to JHVH. There is no J in Hebrew. You can easily find that the letter J didn’t exist on the planet until about 1520 ce. Vowels are stuffed into the spaces of the tetragrammaton such that some of the transliterations have been pronounced JeHoVaH, YaHoWah, YaHuWah, JaHVeh, YaHWeH, IAOUE, IAUE, YaHueh, YaHVeh and others. But as said earlier, vowel points placed beneath the name were to cue the reader NOT to pronounce it, but to say Adonai instead. (Fossilized Customs)

Y’SHUA. It is commonly spelled Yahshua. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary spells it Y^ehowshuwa or Y^ehowshua and says the names Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua and Jeshua were derived from it. But Y’shua is how God signs His notes to this scribe. The scribe infers that God prefers His name to be written that way, so he is adopting it here.

In the film Passion of Christ (2004) the name was pronounced alternately as “yosh-wah” and “ye-hos-wah.” Strong’s pronounces it “yeh-ho-shoo-ah.” But the angels pronounce it differently: “ye-shoo’-wah,” silent on the ho. The last two syllables are pronounced musically like a rising note.  

Y’shua is “Jesus Christ” to the world. Christ is usually mistaken as a surname but it is not. Christ is the Anglicized form of Christos Greek meaning “the Messiah.” Messiah is the Anglicized form of mshakh Hebrew Aramaic meaning “the Anointed One” (Acts 10:38, Luke 4:18-19).

We have stopped calling the Messiah “Jesus Christ.” Kindly take note why:

The appointed name is Y’shua.

Y’shua is a combination of two Hebrew Aramaic words: Yah (“God”) and shua (“saves”). Literally it translates to “Savior God” or “God and Savior” or “Lord and Savior” (as in 1 Timothy 2:3, 2 Peter 2:20 and Titus 2:10, 13). The name reveals Y’shua’s person (“God with us”) and His mission (“to save His people from their sins”). It is along this understanding that Matthew 1:21 says: “You are to give Him the name Y’shua because He will save His people from their sins.”

God Himself chose the name.

⁹ God gave Him the name. PHILIPPIANS 2

To supplant the God-appointed name with another is an act of defiance and irreverence.

Throughout the Scripture giving names was an affirmation of dominion. God renamed those whom He chose for certain tasks (eg. Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Isra’el, Saul to Paul). God has dominion over us and therefore He can rename any one of us anytime.

God has given man the role and prerogative to name each of the animals and the plants (Genesis 1:28, 2:19), but because man has no dominion over God, he is never given the prerogative to rename God. Man ought to address God as He wants to be addressed. Matthew 1:21 and Luke 1:31 commands us to address Him Y’shua; it is imperative for us to obey. To address Him by any other name is to rename Him.  

Tradition gives to Jewish parents the role and prerogative to name their children. Yet not even Joseph and Mary were permitted to give their Son a name of their own choosing.

The name Jesus differs greatly from the God-appointed name.

Lew White is an expert etymologist. Etymology is the study of word origins. According to him, in the process of translating the Scripture manuscripts from Aramaic to Greek, Lucifer and his human agents bastardized the appointed name. Yah (which is pronounced ye) was changed to Ie (still pronounced ye but meaning Hail!). Shua was made sous (to sound Zeus, the name of the highest god in Greek mythology). With the advent of the letter “J” into the alphabet in the 15^th century, “Ie” was made to sound “Je”. Thus, the appointed name was transformed from Y’shua to Iesous, and finally into Jesus. (Fossilized Customs)

So now, little do Christians know that when they pray to Jesus, they are actually proclaiming Hail Zeus!

Christians praying to the wrong God? Lucifer loves it!

            6 The beast opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His name... Revelation 13

Y’shua is the Gospel.

God left His comfort zone… took the form of Son of Man… corrected the false teachings… died on the cross… redeemed us from the pledge… resurrected… and ascended back to His kingdom in heaven… The name God saves! pictures the entire process completely. 

²³ This is God’s command: to believe in the name of His Son, Messiah Y’shua. 1 JOHN 3

IF WE HAVE TO BE VERY STRICT ABOUT IT, BIBLICALLY SPEAKING, calling on Jesus violates tHREE royal decrees, FOUR if 1 John 3:23 IS includeD.

The first two decrees are Matthew 1:21 and Luke 1:31: “You are to give Him the name Y’shua.” The third decree is: 

¹³ Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of gods. Do not let them [eg. the name of Zeus] be heard on your lips. EXODUS 23

Let us refrain from the lazy practice of addressing God in vague terms such as Lord or King or Almighty One or Supremo. For false worshipers also go for the same generic terms when praying or referring to their gods. Let us reciprocate God’s personal attention to us, even to our individual names (John 10:3 and 1 Corinthians 8:3), by knowing His appointed name.

“But in the Bible, the name of the Lord is Jesus!”—that’s a common objection to the appointed name. We say nobody speaks English in the time of Y’shua. The Jews spoke and wrote to one another in their native language, Hebrew Aramaic. Nobody called Him Jesus then. He was born an Aramaic Jew and addressed by an Aramaic name. Nowhere can you find Jesus written in the old manuscripts of the New Testament.

“But Jesus is the English translation of Y’shua!”—that’s another common objection. We say it is not. The English translation is “God saves” or “Savior God” or “God and Savior” or “Lord and Savior.” We beg you to translate the name right. Stop patronizing Lucifer.

Someone said, “We may continue in calling God I am or YHVH. Those names are biblical. It will not be wrong to call God by those names.” We say those names are Old Testament. God has taken a new name for Himself in the New Testament.  

Remember the Old Testament prophecies? 

³¹ The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra’el and with the house of Judah. JEREMIAH 31

²³ Before Me every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear. ISAIAH 45

⁹ The Lord will be King over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name. ZECHARIAH 14

Well, the New Covenant has come. The Old Testament names YHVH and I am have been relegated (made second) to the new name. By God’s decree Y’shua is now the name above every name.

⁹ God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Y’shua every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Y’shua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. PHILIPPIANS 2

Do not be confused on what name to address the Father and what name to address the Son. In our study of “Who Is God?”it has been established that the Son is the Father; also, the Son is the Holy Spirit. All three are essentially one and the same God. Having said that, let us examine the Great Commission:

¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. MATTHEW 28  

Take note: The Messiah did not say names (plural) but name (singular). The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have assumed one name for themselves. Can you guess what it is? Acts 2:38 is the answer.

Acts 2:38 says, “Be baptized in the name of Y’shua.”

Y’shua is the Most Holy Name!

That the Messiah and YHVH are essentially one and the same God, and that they have assumed a common name, can be deduced from a prayer of the Messiah: 

⁹ I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine. ¹¹ Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name—the name You gave Me… JOHN 17

We will not dissuade you if you insist in addressing your prayer to I AM or YHVH, or to Ruach HaKodesh which is the name of the Holy Spirit. Be reminded though to include the most holy name in the address. For Scripture says: 

¹⁷ Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Y’shua, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. COLOSSIANS 3

²³…that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him. JOHN 5

Getting baptized in the most holy name, praying to it and exalting it are signs that you have arrived. You have gained the maturity to see through the Messianic camouflage. The Spirit has put in you the conviction that Y’shua is God. The divine truth whispered into your heart has thundered.

³ No one can say, “Y’shua is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 1 CORINTHIANS 12 

¹⁴ It is a narrow gate and a difficult path that leads to life, and only a few find it. MATTHEW 7


Next Post:  THE THREE LIFE-CHANGING BLESSINGS THE MOST HOLY NAME BRINGS