Names are important. They’re important in the world in which we live, and they’re especially important when it comes to worship. In fact, every major religion has a personal name for its object of worship. Yet if you were to ask most professing Christians the name of the one they worship, they would likely respond with “God” or “the Lord”. But these are generic titles, not names. Neither word specifically identifies who they mean. English-speaking adherents of all of the world’s major religions use these same terms in reference to their deities.
Why Yahweh?
Our heavenly Father actually does have a personal Name, and He clearly revealed it in the original Old Testament Scriptures. In fact, He declared His holy Name to Moses at the burning bush. When Moses asked who he ought to tell the Israelites had sent him, he was told:
“… You shall say to the children of Israel, Yahweh – the Elohim (‘God’) of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob – has sent me to you: this is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations” (Exod. 3:15).
Most English Bible translations replace ‘Yahweh’ with ‘the LORD’ here. In fact, the underlying Hebrew word – ???? – occurs 6,823 times in the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament. Translators replaced it in most English versions of the Bible with the titles ‘God’ and ‘the LORD’. Nevertheless, most Bible scholars acknowledge that the Father’s Name in the original texts is ‘Yahweh’ (pronounced “Yah-way”).
Translation vs Transliteration
The key is to understand that proper names are not translated but transliterated – written in a language to replicate the pronunciation in another. In other words, the pronunciation of a name doesn’t change when it is transliterated from one language to another. For example, the name Ronald Reagan is still pronounced as Ronald Reagan, whether one is speaking English, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, or Swahili. Similarly, Mikhail Gorbachev’s name is pronounced the same, regardless of the language.
“I am Yahweh – that is My Name, and My glory will I not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isa. 42:8).
At Lion of Judah Family Worship Center, we call upon our heavenly Father by this personal, revealed, memorial Name – Yahweh. Although we also occasionally use the terms “God” and “Lord”, we recognize that those are titles, like “man” or “woman” or “Pastor” – they’re not His name. We don’t use ‘Jehovah’ because, although it is a name, it’s not the name of the Creator. The Hebrew language does not and has never had a “J” sound. In addition, the word ‘hováh’ in Hebrew means ruin, mischief, or disaster. Therefore ‘Jehovah’ or ‘Yehovah’ could not possibly be a proper rendering of the name of God.
Why Yahshua?
The angel Gabriel, appearing to Joseph, told him that Mary would give birth to the promised Messiah of Israel. He was to give Him a specific Name for a specific purpose: “And she shall bring forth a Son; and you shall call His Name YAHSHUA; for it is He that shall save His people from their sins… And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of Yahweh commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a Son: and he called His Name YAHSHUA” (Matt 1:21, 24-25).
As mentioned previously, there is no ‘J’ sound in Hebrew (or Greek), so the Messiah’s Name could not have been ‘Jesus’, which is an Anglo-Latin-Greek hybrid name that didn’t exist until about 400 years ago. The Hebrew name Yahshua means ‘Yah is salvation’. Yah is the shortened or poetic form of Yahweh. It’s appropriate that the Messiah, the Son of Yahweh, would bear His Father’s Name. In fact, He said that He came in His Father’s Name (John 5:43).
The revealed names of Yahweh and Yahshua are of utmost importance. However, we recognize that this is new revelation for many people, so we at Lion of Judah Family Worship Center make it our mission to receive people where they’re at. We encourage you to study this subject in depth and allow Yahweh, by His Spirit, to reveal this truth to you. He is seeking true worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24).
Should you have any questions about this subject, please don’t hesitate to ask. You may also request our free, in-depth booklet, “In the Name of the Father”.