THE CULT OF YAHWEH-ISM

John heads his article by writing, “There are a number of churchgoers who adamantly believe that a Christian sins when he or she refers to the Supreme Being of the Universe as “God.” In addition to condemning those who use the term “God,” they also strongly suggest that referring to our Savior as “Jesus Christ” or using the term “Lord” is a clear violation of the Third Commandment in which we are admonished not to take the name of God in vain. (Exodus 20:7) “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

COMMENT: We would like to ask John if he has searched out the Scriptures that he has just quoted here (Ex. 20:7). The commandment warns us to not take the name of the “Supreme Being of the Universe in vain (paraphrasing). Notice that it says “His name!” One thing that we know for sure and so does John, the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe IS NOT “the LORD!” The Supreme Being of the Universe gave His name to Moses BEFORE He delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt. He presented Himself as “I Am That I Am” (English translation of the Hebrew Eyeh Asher Eyeh [Ex. 3:14]). But He then specifically told Moses, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ‘Yahweh” (English translation of YHWH) Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations,” Ex. 3:15.

Notice that! This is His memorial name unto ALL GENERATIONS! Isn’t our generation one of those (all) generations? If so (and we are), then shouldn’t we know what His name is?

Having been a member of Worldwide Church of God myself, it was our belief that we are descendants of the northern kingdom of Israel commonly known as the “Lost ten tribes.” If we are the descendants of Israel, then aren’t we supposed to know His name?

But let’s notice something else. John and others like him prefer to name the Supreme Being of the Universe “God.” That’s interesting since the English reads “The LORD thy God.” Generally, the common noun “elohim” is translated into the English as either God or gods. When the combination of Yahweh Elohim appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, the English version almost always renders it “the LORD thy God.” So the question is, Since elohim is generally considered to be the equivalent to the word god, and YHWH is translated as “the LORD,” when appearing in this combination, how is it John and others like him declare His name to be God? YHWH (Yahweh) is the PROPER NOUN. Elohim (god) is the common noun. If YHWH = God as they teach in their system of belief, and elohim also = god, then why isn’t it rendered as God god, or God the god? If YHWH = “the LORD” then why do they always want to name Him God? Why wasn’t the church named Worldwide Church of the LORD? Why hasn’t John named his church Congregation of the LORD, Seventh Day?

John continues: Many of these people who sincerely believe that God’s Name must be pronounced using the ancient Hebrew sounds have been responsible for splits in churches and, even worse, the total collapse of several small groups of worshippers.

COMMENT: Why is John singling out only the Sacred Name believers as those being responsible for splits in churches and other Bible groups? Why is John working separate and apart from his original parent organization the Worldwide Church of God? How many groups have split off from the Worldwide Church of God? There are over one hundred known groups that have split off from that parent organization and maybe as many as two hundred or more! Were these splits caused by the Sacred Name groups? Absolutely not!

Why are there so many, many splits among the former Worldwide Church of God people? Weren’t they all taught the same thing? Didn’t they all believe the same thing? So why did so many go out and form multitudinous Churches of God? I think that I can speak from the experience that I have received at the hands of that group and its ministry. There may now be some slight difference in beliefs, but the chief reason is that all or many of these ministers want to be the head. They want to be declared to be Herbert W. Armstrong’s successor. They can’t work together because of their own lust for power, wealth and fame.

Oh, I am sure that they all believe that their ministry is the real ministry that is doing the work of God and Jesus Christ. But there is no real humility among them to leave their own ministry and submit themselves to the authority of one man under the so-called guidance and direction of Jesus Christ as they once were in WCG. Of course, we have the same situation in the Sacred Names movement. We truly are split into many various groups and each group has its own leadership and their own general spirit and even differences of doctrines. But we do have a Unity Conference every year in which many of us do come together to try and fellowship together and learn to work hand in hand. Many or most of our groups are open to visits from other groups, however, there are some that are exclusive. That is their problem.

Then we could go into general Christianity itself. What about all of the different Christian groups? Why are they split into various groups, Bible studies, churches, assemblies, etc.? Did Sacred Name believers cause these splits? Absolutely not! Try to name all of the different Christian organizations. It becomes quite an exercise for the mind.

John continues: As if with one voice, they all spout the same rhetoric CONDEMNING all who do not use the Hebrew pronunciation for what they all believe is God’s Name in private or in their worship services. They have gone so far as to say that one cannot be saved unless the individual properly uses and pronounces their version of the Hebrew letters signifying God!!

COMMENT: Well, well, well….here is John condemning those who seek to fulfill the third commandment (Ex. 20:7, see above) and yet, I sat in WCG listening to the condemnation of those who weren’t observing the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” Ex. 20:8. We also sought to uphold the rest of the ten commandments, annual Holy Day observance, the law of clean and unclean meats and many other commandments. Those who were observing Sunday, annual holidays, eating unclean foods and generally disobeying most of the other commandments, yet were worshippers of God and Jesus Christ were condemned. Does John still practice this? If so, then this is like the pot calling the kettle black when he condemns those who want to honor the Heavenly Father and His Son by knowing and loving their names.

At the time I was in WCG, I believed with all my heart that the name of the Father was God and the name of the Son was Jesus Christ. I sought to honor the third commandment in the way that I understood it at the time. But I eventually came to understand that the real name of the Savior was not Jesus Christ, but rather Yahshua (English equivalent Joshua) the Messiah, and that the name of the Heavenly Father was Yahweh.

I was in WCG during the early 1980’s when Herbert W. Armstrong commissioned a panel to study into the name of the Heavenly Father. I was sitting in the group when he openly announced that the panel had finished its study and had determined that the name of the Heavenly Father was Yahweh. However, he followed this statement with, “But I prefer to call Him the Eternal.” From that time when the ministry came to the words “the LORD” in Scripture, it was always read as “the Eternal,” not “the Lord!” Was there a mad rush to change the name of the church to Worldwide Church of the Eternal? No!!! Do the other churches like John’s seek to incorporate “Church of the Eternal” in the names of their various groups? No!

Therefore, we need to ask the question to John and all others of his ilk (WCGers and ex-WCGers alike, especially the ministry), If you proclaim that you are a seeker of truth and when that truth comes to you, then do you embrace it or reject it? Herbert W. Armstrong always taught us that when the truth comes, we must embrace it, for if we reject it, then we will begin to go backwards. That is exactly what happened to the organization, the Worldwide Church of God, when Herbert W. Armstrong made that announcement, yet refused to embrace the truth. His health declined until he expired and the organization backpedaled from the truths that they had. It isn’t even a skeleton of its former self.

Now John, are you sincere about the truth or are you sincerely resisting and rejecting it. I know that you know the true names of the Father and the Son. If you don’t, then I am declaring them to you right now. Will you repent and embrace them, will you repent and openly and gladly embrace the truth, or will you continue to reject and resist?

John continues: The purpose of this article is to expose the MYTH behind the so-called use of Hebrew names for God and Jesus Christ. Believe it or not!!

COMMENT: MYTH? Let’s look at this word MYTH’s definition, 1. a traditional story of unknown authorship, ostensibly with a historical basis, but serving usually to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, or the customs, institutions, religious rites, etc. of a people: myths usually involve the exploits of gods and heroes: cf. LEGEND  2. such stories collectively; mythology  3. any fictitious story, or unscientific account; theory, belief, etc.  4. any imaginary person or thing spoken of as though existing (Webster’s New World Dictionary).

John, you think that the true Hebrew names are MYTHS? You think that the use of the names is mythology, fictitious? The truth of the matter, John, is that the name of the Heavenly Father is Yahweh. Even Herbert W. Armstrong, your mentor, agreed with that. Even the overall preponderance of worldly scholars agree with that.

Didn’t the Supreme Being of the Universe, Himself say that His name Yahweh is His memorial name? Do you know what the Hebrew word for memorial is John? It is “zeker” coming from “zakar” which is defined as; a primitive root; properly, to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember; by implication, to mention; also (as denominative from 2145) to be male (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew Lexicon, #2142.

Look at that carefully, John. Are you marked with His name? In Rev. 14:1 the 144,000 are said to have His (the Lamb Yahshua’s) Father’s name written in their foreheads. The word “written” comes from the Greek “grapho” which means “to grave.” Our English equivalent would be to “engrave.” The word “engrave” is defined as; 1. to cut or etch letters, designs, etc. in or on (a surface)  2. to impress deeply or permanently on the mind or memory, as though by engraving  3. to cut or etch (a picture, letters, etc.) into a metal plate, wooden block, etc. for printing  4. to print with such a plate, block, etc. (Webster’s New World Dictionary). Obviously you aren’t marked with His name since you stubbornly resist what His name is. You may be marked with the name God, but that really isn’t His name. God is a false, pseudo name. It is an unworthy replacement.

Zeker/zakar means to remember. Do you remember His name? Again, no you don’t. You resist the remembrance of His name. You are seeking to take away the knowledge of His true name and condemning those who do have it, seeking to have it deeply and permanently impressed on their mind and memory as also on others.

Zeker/zakar means to mention. Do you mention His name? Not lovingly. You detest those who do. We remember or memorialize something by mentioning it. If we take it out of our language, as those of your ilk and the ilk of King James do, then it is forgotten. You and they are taking His name in vain (to an empty purpose) because you declare it to be unimportant and then remove it from the very word that He authored. He placed His name in the Old Testament alone 6823 times. That’s a pretty heavy emphasis, John.

You who make light of His name or would bring it to nothing, replacing it with an improper substitute are found to be contrary to the third commandment, even though you proclaim that you are a commandment keeper. This is just like the Christians who proudly exhibit the ten commandments, but turn and say that they are done away. They condemn anyone who professes to observe the ten commandments as legalists. Your diatribe against the true name of the Heavenly Father is a diatribe against the third commandment.

When in Worldwide, we learned that the day appointed by the Supreme Being of the Universe was the seventh day Sabbath. We would not accept any substitutes because of the fourth commandment. Those of us in the Sacred Names have discovered that the true name of the Supreme Being of the Universe is Yahweh. This was proven to be true by the Worldwide Church of God’s study panel. It is deemed true by the scholastic world. We will accept no substitutes.

When Yahweh delivered Israel from Egypt He gave them three important MEMORIALS. Do you know what they are and in what order they were received? The first memorial was His name Yahweh (Ex. 3:15). The second memorial was the Passover (Ex. 12). The third memorial was the seventh day Sabbath (Ex. 16). I know that you memorialize the Sabbath day and also the Passover, but you are missing the most important ingredient, John. You are missing His MEMORIAL NAME. The very first memorial that was given to Moses and the children of Israel.

He declared to Pharaoh, “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth,” Ex. 9:16. Now I know that you, and others like you, like to claim that the Hebrew word for “name” being “shem” means “an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). You say that this only means honor, authority, character, etc., not necessarily His name. But look at that definition again, John. It says “an appellation, as a MARK, or MEMORIAL OF INDIVIDUALITY! One’s name is his mark or memorial of individuality. We know who you are because of your name. Others know who I am through my name. We know who heads the throne of England through a name. We know who the President of the United States is through a name. We know who the leader of Russia is through a name. The names of the heads of England, the U.S., Russia, etc., have changed throughout history, but the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe never changes. It remains the same through the ages.

Think about that and REPENT JOHN!

John continues: The Sacred Name Cult has unknowingly embraced the same Idolatry of modern-day Churchianity that teaches “salvation is based solely on CALLING on the name of Jesus and you shall be saved.” Their teaching is that one CAN NOT be saved unless he or she properly pronounces the Hebrew letters identifying God and Jesus Christ.

Many articles from the Sacred Name Cult make it plain that they believe the most important key to understanding God’s Truth and Salvation is to call him by the name THEY THINK is the correct Hebrew pronunciation of God’s Name.

We, at the Congregation of God Seventh Day, categorically DISAGREE with this false assumption. The most important thing, the Bible says, in understanding God’s Word is to have God’s Holy Spirit INDWELLING in you which Christ said, “It (the Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth and understanding.”

COMMENT: Let’s see, John, who is truly misunderstanding here? It is true that the Holy Spirit will guide us into ALL TRUTH and UNDERSTANDING. The TRUTH is that the TRUE name of the Heavenly Father is Yahweh. This was admitted by Herbert W. Armstrong and it is also admitted by the scholarly world (even though the scholars may not have the Holy Spirit).

I want to quote from one of those scholarly works, specifically, the Holman Bible Dictionary. On pages 1004-1005 under the caption NAMES OF GOD we read, “The name of God holds an important key to understanding the doctrine of God and the doctrine of revelation. The name of God is a personal disclosure and reveals His relationship with His people. His name is known only because He chooses to make it known. To the Hebrew mind, God was both hidden and revealed, transcendent and immanent. Even though he was mysterious, lofty, and unapproachable; He bridged the gap with humankind by revealing His name. See Naming.

The truth of God’s character is focused in His name. The divine name reveals God’s power, authority, and holiness. This accounts for Israel’s great reverence for God’s name….

The Covenant Name The covenant name for God was “Yahweh.” Israel’s faith was a new response to God based on His disclosure. This name was so unique and powerful that God formed a covenant with His people based upon his self-revelation.” (end of quotes)

It would hopefully do you good to read this over and over several times, John. Sacred Name believers didn’t write this. Worldly scholars did.

Let me spell some of it out for you. It says that the Name of the Supreme Being of the Universe holds an important key to understanding His doctrine as well as His revelation. It says that knowing His name will cause us to receive a personal disclosure and relationship with Him. The truth of His character is focused in His name. His name reveals His power, authority and holiness (cleanness and purity). The name Yahweh is His COVENANT NAME!

Yahshua said that He came in His Father’s name (John 5:43). He also says in the same verse that if another shall come in his own name that they would receive him. Now compare the names Yahweh – Yahshua: Yahweh – Jesus. Yahshua means “the salvation of Yahweh” or “Yahweh the Savior.” What does Jesus mean? How can Jesus lead us to the Father and to His important name if we can’t even deduct the name Yahweh from that name?

The words of the Savior have been fulfilled. Another (Jesus) has come in his own name and the world and you have received and are following him.

So now, John, if you have the Holy Spirit, then it will lead you into the truth concerning the true name of the Father and the true name of the Son. But if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, then you will continue to deny, reject and rebel against this truth. These may be hard words for not only you to read, but for others also, but if we love the truth, then we will call a spade a spade. (Oh, sorry, now I’m playing cards.) We will embrace the truth and incorporate it into our lives.

You lump us into the same idolatry as that of churchianity!? I was called out of the idolatry of churchianity (as have been many other brethren) through WCG. But when I discovered the truth about the Sacred (true) Names, I openly embraced that truth. What is the difference between the great overall preponderance of doctrines of WCG and our (Sacred Name believer’s) teachings and beliefs today? Basically, the Sacred Names. We still teach the commandments, including the Sabbath. We still observe the annual holy days. We still observe the law of clean and unclean foods. We still publish the good news of the Savior and the kingdom of heaven, but with the true names added.

But the real truth of the matter, John, is that you stubbornly refuse to turn and accept and believe the truth concerning the TRUE NAMES. So who is really embracing idolatry? Who is really making an idol out of names?

I remember Herbert W. Armstrong always asking the question, Why are we named the Church of God? He would then go to Jn. 17:11, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are.” He then would say that we must have His name so we are named the “Church of God.”

But toward the end of his life he discovered that the true name of the Father is Yahweh and publicly announced such. Did he frantically go about seeking to change the name of the church to the “Church of Yahweh?” He should have, but he didn’t.

Now I must remind you that everyone of the organizations, that have become spin-offs of the Worldwide Church of God, have proven the importance of the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe, because you, to a church or assembly or Bible group, all incorporate the name “God” in your organizational name. Yes John, your own actions reveal the importance of the Creator’s, the Supreme Being of the Universe’s name, but you deny it in your article. Shame, shame on you.

John continues: Recently, I received a very long email from an individual touting the use of Hebrew names, making the following statement concerning a person’s salvation as it relates to using the proper sacred name. That email made my point in the very first few paragraphs of the 14-page internet article. I quote from the second paragraph of the paper. “In these, the last days, there have been uncovered some of the ‘keys’ to understanding the truth. Many people have yet to realize that the most important ‘key’ is recognizing, knowing and CALLING UPON OUR HEAVENLY FATHER’S NAME. Notice, I said ‘Name’ singular – not plural. He has many titles and attributes, but only one name – and YHWH shall be sovereign over all the earth. In that day, there shall be one YHWH and His Name ONE.” (Institute for Scripture Version)

Notice Christ’s own words to the disciple Peter. (Matthew 16:17) “And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Christ told His disciples that, after He left them, the Holy Spirit would be sent to them which would open their minds to God’s Truth. (John 14:26) “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom [which] the Father will send in my name, he [it] shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

When Christ was asked by the young rich man what he must do to receive eternal life, not once did Christ mention using the name of God as expressed in the Hebrew. Notice Matthew 19:16-19. “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self.”

COMMENT: What are you implying here, John? That we only need to keep five of the 10 commandments in order to have eternal life? Is that all we have to do? Don’t we also need to obey the other five commandments? Don’t you believe that we receive eternal life through Yahshua the Messiah and not by our works of the law? Isn’t that the gist of the Scriptures that Paul has written and that have been preserved for us? It is our understanding and I know that it is yours also, that no matter if we could keep the law perfectly, we cannot earn our own salvation. Salvation is a free gift through the Savior. We seek to uphold and walk in the commandments because they declare to us what sin is and once we come to the knowledge of the Savior and come under His salvation, we are to sin no more.

Do you still believe the words of Peter and Paul? What did Peter declare? “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith Yahweh, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of Yahweh come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved,” Acts 2:16-21.

Isn’t Peter speaking through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Wasn’t he inspired to quote another man, namely Joel, who also was being inspired by the Holy Spirit? (See Joel 2:28-32) What language was Joel speaking and writing in? Wasn’t it Hebrew? Wouldn’t Peter (a Hebrew speaking to Hebrews) be speaking in Hebrew? We know that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, so wouldn’t Peter be inspired to declare Yahweh’s name as Joel did?

Here is what Paul says concerning the matter, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of Yahweh shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Acts 10:12-14.

Paul is also quoting Joel as Peter did. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the same name, the name Yahweh, would have been employed. How can I say this? Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and it doesn’t deviate from the truth. Notice that Paul says that there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. They must both call upon the same name for salvation. That’s three witnesses from Scripture, three men speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit who declare that we must call upon the name Yahweh for salvation. That’s only one from the Old Testament, but two very important ones from the New Testament. But how will they know what that name is unless they hear that name from a preacher? If you are a preacher and you are not declaring the name of salvation then you are abdicating your responsibility.

Proverbs 18:10 declares, “The name Yahweh is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” David sings, “Yahweh is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my El, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies,” Psa. 18:2-3.

Do these Scriptures do anything for you John? Joel, Peter and Paul say that we shall call upon the name Yahweh in order to be saved. Proverbs declares that the very name Yahweh is a strong tower and the righteous run into it for safety. David says Yahweh is His salvation and high tower. He says that he will call upon Yahweh in order to be saved from his enemies. Will you accuse Joel, Peter, Paul and David of making an idol out of the name Yahweh? You are accusing the Sacred Name believers of such! We simply desire to follow the Scriptures in truth. The commandments are important to us. The sabbath is important to us. The Passover and the rest of the Holy Days are important to us. Obedience is important to us. The Savior is important to us. The true names are important to us.

If you, being a preacher, are resisting the truth and seeking to withhold the truth from the people, then your judgment will be much more extreme and harsh than those who are blindly following you.

John continues: What is in a Name?

Before we can begin considering the so-called “Sacred Names” of God and Jesus Christ, we must first consider exactly WHAT IS A NAME? A word or name is a symbol that uses a particular sound or markings on a piece of paper to stand for a concept, or for some thing that exists in the real world. We know that some words stand for things which have no actual physical or spiritual existence such as dragons and ghosts. Even though many people think that ghosts exist, we know assuredly from God’s Word that there are no such beings as ghosts and science tells us that dragons do not exist.

COMMENT: Interesting….you go to the Scriptures to prove that ghosts do not exist, yet you allowed the word “Holy Ghost” to appear in your article. (See above.) But then you go to science to prove that dragons do not exist when the Scriptures describe a great fire breathing spirit named Satan who is also called a dragon. (Rev. 12) Isaiah speaks of leviathan, the dragon that is in the sea (Isa. 27) and Job speaks of leviathan, as a creature from whose nostrils comes smoke and flame that goes out of his mouth (chapter 41). The question is, Who do you believe, science or the Scriptures?

John continues: True enough, there are demonic spirit beings that try to pass themselves off as ghosts of formerly living human beings, such as was the case with Saul in I Samuel 28 when he approached a woman who dealt with evil spirit beings and fortune telling at Endor. (I Samuel 28)

Words that are used to express intangible (non-physical) things are words that only exist in the idea of the minds of men. Different languages will have different words of names for the same thing. When the student considers the name of God, he will certainly do so in his own language. The concept that Hebrew is the language of God is totally FALSE because the language DID NOT EXIST in the beginning and was NOT the language of Adam and Eve. Hebrew is a language that was a composite of several different languages, including Egyptian spoken by the Israelites many thousands of years ago and a Babylonian dialect from the time when the Jews were captives in Babylon. Today’s ‘Hebrew’ is from a Russian dialect called Yiddish.

COMMENT: This is an argument that everyone tries to utilize when resisting and rejecting the truth concerning the true names of the Supreme Being of the Universe and His Son. While it is true that different languages have different words for various items, for instance, the word “table” in English is “la mesa” in Spanish, the simple fact of the matter is that people’s names (proper nouns) stay basically the same in all languages. A case in point is the last book that was authored by Herbert W. Armstrong entitled “Mystery of the Ages.” The book was offered not only in English, but French, Spanish, German, Dutch, etc. An advertisement was made up which included all of these editions together. The title of the book did change somewhat from language to language, but the name Herbert W. Armstrong was the same in all the languages. People’s names are transliterated from language to language, not translated.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel are Hebrew names, John. Why is it that you prefer their names to be transliterated into the English from the Hebrew, but you resist the transliteration of the names of the most important beings in existence? What about Satan? Satan is a Hebrew name. You even transliterate his name into the English. You are showing more respect to him and his name than you are to your own Creator and His Son, your Savior!

You have entrapped yourself with your own words in the paragraph above because you say that a student will consider the name of [Elohim] in his own language. So you will allow the Greeks to apply the name Zeus to the Supreme Being of the Universe? You will allow the Latins to apply the name Jupiter to the Supreme Being of the Universe? So all of the various languages of the world can translate the Word of Yahweh into their own language and simply replace His name with whatever false deity that is their supreme deity at the moment. However, be very careful that the names of men Adam, Eve, Enoch, Seth, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, David, etc., and even Satan must be kept very close to their original Hebrew names. You are showing respect for men, but not much at all for you Creator, the Supreme Being of the Universe and His Son, your Savior.

Do you know what that statement does, John? You are giving authority to the various nations and languages of the world to transfer the glory that is only supposed to be reserved for the Supreme Being of the Universe and His Son, Yahweh and Yahshua to the false pagan deities of the nations. Once again, shame, shame on you!

Another statement you made will also be nigh on hard to prove. You say that the Hebrew language DID NOT EXIST in the beginning and was not the language of Adam and Eve. Were you there? From whence did you obtain your information?

You then attempt to make the Hebrew language conform to the English language by saying that it is a composite of several different languages. The simple fact of the matter, John, whether you like it or not, is that the Hebrew language is the language of REVELATION. The Supreme Being of the Universe chose to reveal Himself through the Hebrew language. Yahshua came to His own [the Hebrews] first. Paul says that the Jew [Hebrew] is first and the Gentile is second (Ro. 2:9-10). Yahshua revealed Himself to Paul speaking in the Hebrew tongue (Acts 26:14). Which brings up another question. Since Yahshua spoke in the Hebrew tongue giving His name in that language, why is the Hebrew name taken away from our modern day version and the Greek name employed? Shouldn’t we have the Greek and Hebrew renderings side by side?

Why did they go out of their way to make sure that the name Joshua was changed to Jesus in Hebrews 4:8? However, many of the later editions correct the name back to Joshua. We know that the Savior had the same name as that of Joshua in the Old Testament. Why is it that the name Joshua is alright for the Old Testament, but when it comes to the New Testament the same name is changed to Jesus? Is it possible that there has been a conspiracy to change the names and give glory to another deity and another savior? We not only think so, we know so.

Doesn’t it say that Satan has deceived the whole world? (Rev. 12:9) How do you deceive? Isn’t it through falsehood, deceit, lies? If a name isn’t one’s real name, then isn’t that a lie? How does the common noun god, which is made into a proper noun and given as the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe by the modern day world compare with Yahweh (YHWH)? There simply is no comparison is there?

John continues: The Hebrew language, like other languages, has gone through many changes and structures. Just as English of 1200 AD is very different from English of 2002 AD. Those who have studied Chaucer and the early British writers find it almost impossible to read and understand any of their writings because they were written in Old or Middle English.

I remember taking British literature during my sophomore year in college and I was required to memorize and recite for the professor parts of The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in Middle English. Later, in my college life, taking German, I found that the German language and Old and Middle English have many similarities. Even today, the English and German languages have many similarities in word pronunciation.

COMMENT: It is true that languages have changed over the years. It is also true that the modern day English in England is a little different from American English. Sometimes we Americans have trouble understanding the English of the British, Scots, Irish, etc. There are even dialectic differences in our own country. But I would like to ask you, John, Did the name Geoffrey Chaucer stay the same in Old, Middle and Modern English? Your name is John. One of the English names that is equivalent to yours is Ian. In Russian it is Ivan, in Spanish Juan. When an Ian, Ivan or Juan comes to America, do we change that name to John? Absolutely not!

Also, notice that you were careful to get his first name right (Geoffrey). In our modern day world Jeffrey is the substitute. Why didn’t you change his name to Jeffrey or just plain old Jeff? Oh yes, I forgot, you were remembering, memorializing, marking the name of a man and not the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe. God forbid if you had changed his name. (I write this as a pun.) Had you changed his name, the scholastic world and anyone who, like you, studied his works, would have written hot corrective letters to you. You would have come under great condemnation. You would have had to follow up your article with a correction. But who cares about the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe, your very own Creator?!

John continues: Most people do not realize that, by the time Christ came on the scene, Hebrew was NO LONGER A SPOKEN LANGUAGE as Latin is today no longer a spoken language. The language that Christ spoke and understood was obviously Greek and Aramaic. Most of the Jews of His day spoke Aramaic, but the Bible from which they read was written in Greek, NOT HEBREW.

One may find it surprising to learn that the first complete Bible of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, was written in Greek.

When Jesus Christ went into a Synagogue and read from Isaiah, He may not have been reading from the Hebrew version, but the Greek version because the Septuagint was the only complete written Bible at that time, though there were fragments of some Old Testament scrolls in Hebrew. Notice Christ reading in Luke 4:16-19. The importance of the message Christ gave was not the use of the word “YHWH,” but the fact that God’s Spirit was upon Him and He was given the formidable task to preach the word of God to all of those mentioned in the Scripture. Believe it or not, Christ DID NOT USE the sacred name “YHWH” or any derivation thereof when reading this scripture. True enough, the capitalized word “Lord” may have been taken from the Hebrew letters “YHWH” but the translation he was reading from IN GREEK, were the Greek letters signifying the Greek word “Kurios” (2962). In fact, Jesus Christ read aloud the name of His Heavenly Father, pronouncing it in Greek which was later translated by the English writers as the word “Lord.”

COMMENT: It is very interesting that you should make these comments in such a way. First, you make a positive statement by saying that Hebrew was no longer a spoken language, then you follow this by saying that Yahshua “may not have been reading from the Hebrew version, but rather the Greek version.”

The question is, Will you believe the Scriptures? When Paul addressed the crowd at Jerusalem, the Scriptures say that he addressed them in the HEBREW TONGUE! (Acts 21:40) When Yahshua revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, He spoke to him in the HEBREW TONGUE! (Acts 26:14) In the book of Revelation, the Hebrew tongue is spoken of. Do you believe that when the Holy Spirit inspired the word Hebrew to be utilized in these places, that it, the Spirit of truth, would attribute the word Hebrew to another language? Wouldn’t that be a falsehood?

Hearken back, John, to the Maccabean rebellion. Wasn’t there animosity between the Hebrews and Greeks because Antiochus Ephiphanes had entered Jerusalem, forbade Sabbath observance, circumcision, etc., on pain of death sacrificed a pig on the altar of the temple, set up a statue of Zeus in the Holy of Holies, etc.? There was a great hatred and resentment between the Jews of Palestine and the Greeks. Even Josephus admitted that he, being a Hebrew, couldn’t speak the Greek language very well at all.

There are more ancient versions of the Septuagint found in the scrolls around the Dead Sea which even though written in Greek, the name of the Supreme Being of the Universe was still preserved in the Hebrew letters. The change from the Hebrew to the Greek didn’t come about until much later. This is proof, John, that when the Septuagint was translated from the Greek to the Hebrew, that the Hebrew name of the Supreme Being of the Universe was still considered to be very important to preserve in the Hebrew language.

Your statements here remind me of the world’s previous attitude toward the Assyrian city of Nineveh. The Scriptures declared that the city of Nineveh had existed. Those who believed the Scriptures believed that it had existed. But the rest of the unbelieving world, including many Bible scholars relegated Nineveh to nothing more than a myth (similar to your relegating the true name of the Creator as a myth). But lo and behold, archeologists discovered the great city of Nineveh, proving the veracity of the Scriptures much to the surprise and dismay of the unbelieving world!

When you make the statements that you made above, all you are doing is parroting an unbelieving world. A world that hates the Hebrews and their great Elohim Yahweh. That’s right, John. The Greeks have always hated the Hebrews and the Hebrew way. You have embraced some of the commands of Yahweh and the world holds you in contempt. But you are joining them in showing your contempt for the Hebrew and the true Hebrew names.

The Greeks are the wild olive tree spoken of by Paul who, against nature, are grafted into the Hebrew tree (Yahshua), John. But they have refused to bear the Root (Yahweh) and the trunk (Yahshua). If they, and you, don’t repent of this folly, then they and you will be broken off in similar fashion to the natural (Hebrew) branches.

We talk about becoming children of Abraham. Abraham was a Hebrew. Yahshua was a Hebrew, not a Greek. The world, under Satan’s influence, wants to change Yahshua from the righteous Hebrew Savior that He was to an unrighteous Greek savior. You, even though you seek to uphold most of the commandments, are aiding them in their efforts when you continue to stress the Greek above the Hebrew.

John Continues: Notice Luke 6:46. Christ used the term “Kurios” (2962) in two different cases to identify Himself. Notice that Luke was inspired to use the word “Kurious” instead of the Greek word for “Creator” which would have been “Ktistes” (2939) which means “Creator” translated “YHWH” from the Hebrew. Notice the Apostle Peter used “Ktises” when he wrote his first Epistle and this Greek word was translated accordingly as “Ktistes” as the translation for “a Faithful Creator.” (1 Peter 4:19)

COMMENT: John, your effort to overthrow the truth concerning the Sacred names continues to reveal your bias. The Hebrew word for “Lord” in Luke 6:46 would have been “Adonai.”

You are in error concerning 1 Peter 4:19. I will utilize Scripture to correct your error and let’s see if you will be able to admit your mistake in this case. The Prophet Isaiah is inspired to declare, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting Elohi, Yahweh, the Creator (Heb. = arwB [the English letters would be “Bura”]) of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding,” Isa. 40:28.

“I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the creator (Heb. = arwB [the English letters would be “Bura”]) of Israel, your King,” Isa. 43:15.

In Ecclesiastes 12:1 we also read, “Remember now thy Creator (Heb. = %arwb [the English letters would be “Burak”]) in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.”

That’s the only places that the word “Creator” is utilized in the Old Testament. There are only two places in the New Testament, 1 Pet. 4:19 and Ro. 1:25. In Ro. 1:25 the Greek word “Ktizo” is utilized for Creator.

I find that in your haste to make the statements above, you utilized quite sloppy scholarship. I know that the manner in which I am writing may sound a little tough at times, but you are an ordained minister. You should be careful concerning the things you say and write. You should check things our before making statements like you did above so that you are speaking and writing the truth and not falsehood. You are in the process of feeding Yahshua’s sheep and you should be careful concerning what you are feeding them. No, you won’t have to answer to me, but you will have to answer to Yahshua. He may be much more critical than I am. After all, He is the Truth and He wants His ministers to speak the truth to the sheep.

John Continues: Christ certainly understood His position as Creator of all things under God. Unfortunately, those who believe in “sacred names” tend to reject the Greek word for the Creator, “Ktistes,” and instead prefer the Hebrew word “YHWH”.” The real problem with this is that the New Testament was NOT written in Hebrew but in Greek.

COMMENT: My above comment blows this statement to pieces. While there may be some few “Sacred Name” believers who have translated “Ktistes” as “YHWH.” But the real fact of the matter is that the majority of us do like to utilize the Scriptures as our guide and we do look into the various study tools available to us such as the Interlinear Bibles, concordances, lexicons, etc.

As for your statement concerning the New Testament being originally written in Greek and not Hebrew, this is another false statement. The idioms that are utilized in the New Testament are Hebrew idioms, not Greek. Had it been originally written in the Greek language, then Greek idioms would have been utilized.

Also, the Jewish Rabbis who rejected Yahshua instructed their people to search out and destroy all New Testament documents written in Hebrew. There are discussions in the Talmud concerning the manner in which to destroy the documents since the Sacred Name was utilized in them and the Jewish Rabbis feared to destroy His name even though it was written on papyrus, etc.

Also, Constantine, called the Great, made it unlawful to possess any Hebrew documents. There was a concerted effort by both groups to search out and destroy all New Testament Hebrew documents. Surely you have discovered this in your studies and readings, or do you study and read?

Another case in point is that the New Testament Scriptures were also preserved in Aramaic, the sister language to Hebrew. The Aramaic Scriptures were not, I repeat, were not copies of the Greek. If you have a Lamsa Bible, then you should read His Introduction and Preface. You might glean a great deal of information from it.

John Continues: Without exception, the writers of the New Testament translated the Hebrew name “YHWH” into the Greek “Kurios” which means “Lord.” That is the true meaning of “YHWH” that Jesus was referring to when HE read the name aloud in the synagogue and it is evident that He did not pronounce the sound “Yahweh.”

COMMENT: Here is what appears in the FORWARD to the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, “This popular theory (that the name of the Creator has always appeared in the Greek Texts as Kyrios and Theos) has now been flatly disproved by the recently found remains of a papyrus roll of LXX. This contains the second half of the book of Deuteronomy. Not one of these fragments shows an example of Kyrios or Theos used instead of the divine name, but in each instance the Tetragrammaton is written in Aramaic characters. By permission of its owners we have reproduced photographs of fragments of the papyrus roll that our readers may examine these occurrences of the Tetragrammaton in such an early copy of LXX. Authorities fix the date for this papyrus at the 2d or 1st century B.C. This means about a century or two after the LXX was begun. It proves that the original LXX did contain the divine name wherever it occurred in the Hebrew original. Considering it a sacrilege to use some substitute as kyrios or theos, the scribes inserted the Tetragrammaton (hwhy) at its proper place in the Greek version of the text.

Did Jesus Christ and his disciples who wrote the Christian Greek Scriptures have copies at hand of the Greek Septuagint with the divine name appearing threin in the form of the Tetragrammaton? Yes! The Tetragrammaton persisted in copies of LXX for centuries after Christ and his apostles. About A.D. 128 Aquila’s Greek version had the Tetragrammaton in Archaic Hebrew letters. About A.D. 245 Origen produced his famous Hexapla, this being a six-column reproduction of the inspired ancient Scriptures, (1) in their original Hebrew and Aramaic, accompanied by (2) a transliteration into Greek and the Greek versions by (3) Aquila, (4) Symmachus, (5) the Seventy (LXX), and (6) Theodtion. In the second column of the Hexapla, in the transliteration into Greek, the Tetragrammaton was written in Hebrew characters, whereas in columns 3, 4, and 5 the Greek versions of Aquila. Symmachus and LXX all represented the Tetragrammaton by the similar Greek characters. Origen, in a statement on Psalm 2:2, said that ‘in the most faithful manuscripts THE NAME is written in Hebrew characters, that is not in modern, but in archaic Hebrew.’

A papyrus fragment of that same 3d century A.D., namely P. Oxyrhynchus vii. 1007, is a fragment of Genesis of the LXX, and it abbreviates the Tetragrammaton by its first letter doubled, a double Yod (yy), the initial letter being written in the shape of a Z with a horizontal stroke through the middle, the stroke being carried unbroken through both such Yod’s.

In the succeeding century Jerome says that ignorant readers of the LXX imagined the Tetragrammaton to be a Greek word and actually pronounced it ‘Pipi.’ In hia Prologus Galeatus prefacing the books of Samuel and Malachi he says: ‘We find the four-lettered name of God (i.e., hwhy) in certain Greek volumes even to this day expressed in the ancient letters.’ And in his 25th letter to Marcella, written at Rome, A.D. 384, he treats of the ten names of God and says: ‘The ninth [name of God] is a tetragrammaton, which they considered an×ek×pho’ne×ton, that is unspeakable, which is written with these letters, Iod, He, Vau, He. Which certain ignorant ones, because of the similarity of the characters, when they would find them in Greek books, were accustomed to pronounce Pi Pi.’

Thus down to the time of Jerome, the translator who produced the Latin Vulgate, there were Greek manuscripts of the ancient Hebrew Scriptures which still contained the divine name in its four Hebrew characters.” (end of excerpt)

You should also find a copy of Biblical Archaeology Review Magazine dated March 1978 and read The Name of God in the New Testament by George Howard, pages 12-15 also Jan.-Feb. 1984 issue, pages 12-14 and  March-April 1991 issue pages 4. You will discover that all of the ancient Biblical documents, whether Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, etc. contained the Sacred Name in Hebrew. The Greek substitutes of Kyrios and Theos came around the third or fourth century. That was about the time that Constantine outlawed Hebrew.

John Continues: Attitude Matters

The real crux of the argument has to do with the attitude of the believer and the one using the Name of God. Fundamentally, what matters is what a person thinks in his mind when he uses the English word “God” or the Spanish word “Dios” or any other language for the name “God.” It is not the particular sound

or letters on a piece of paper that makes any real difference which symbolizes his reference to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe – God. If the name of God is used as a curse word, obviously, there is no respect and it is a form of breaking the commandment. However, if a person used the name of God in a reverent and sincere way while praying to the Eternal, in faith, then this is the most important factor in the use of the word God. What really matters is the attitude and belief behind the use of the word “God,” not its specific pronunciation. This is why Christians who pray to God may refer to Him in whatever modern language they speak, from Russian to English to Chinese to Spanish.

Notice that the Bible at no time places any restrictions on its translations and nowhere prohibits referring to the True God in languages other than Hebrew. Those who advocate using ONLY Hebrew names when referring to God have to READ INTO IT all such restrictions which DO NOT EXIST.

COMMENT: John, have you really read the Scriptures lately? Here you are, once again giving carte blanche to the names of the deities of all of the nations of the world. It is interesting that you included the names of the deities of the Russians, Chinese, Spanish and English, but you didn’t include the names of the deities of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. But, if as you say, it is all right to substitute the names of all the deities of the nations, then these must be included. All of the deities of the nations, including the English world, were heathen, pagan deities associated with idolatry.

Your comment, “Notice that the Bible at no time places any restrictions on its translations and nowhere prohibits referring to the True God in languages other than Hebrew,” is quite troubling. While it is true that all languages may worship Yahweh in their own language and through right knowledge of the Holy Scriptures as led by the Holy Spirit, the situation is that all of the languages of the world had their own personal names for their deities. What you have done here is approve of the Spanish utilizing Dios as the name of their Elohim, the English utilize God, the Egyptians Osiris, Isis, Horus, the Babylonians Bel, the Greeks Zeus, the Romans Jupiter, the Canaanites Ba’al, Ishtar, etc. Your statement is quite grievous and erroneous.

I can prove to you that Yahweh hated the names of the deities of the nations and wouldn’t accept them in worship toward Him. Here is what Yahweh commanded Israel, “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other elohim, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth,” Ex. 23:13.

Again, it is written, “These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which Yahweh Elohim of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their elohim, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

 3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their elohim, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

 4 Ye shall not do so unto Yahweh your Elohim,” Dt. 12:1-4.

“Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another elohim: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

 5 Yahweh is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot,” Psa. 16:4-5.

“And it shall be at that day, saith Yahweh, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

 17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name,” Hos. 2:16-17.

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land,” Zech. 13:1-2.

You say that there are no restrictions in the Scriptures? What about these Scriptures that I have just quoted? Have you ever read them? You should read them very carefully, John. If you are a TRUE minister of the TRUE ELOHIM, then you will be seeking to lift up His TRUE NAME, not the name of the deities of all the nations of the world. You won’t be encouraging the nations of the world to replace the TRUE NAME OF THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE with the names of their deities.

Isn’t that what got the children of Israel in trouble. Didn’t they begin to introduce the names of the deities  of the nations and their abominable practices into their worship? And then, didn’t they also go before Yahweh to worship Him? What did Yahweh say about this? “Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other elohim whom ye know not;

 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

 11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith Yahweh,” Jer. 7:9-11.

This is what your statements are advocating, John. Whether you believe it or not. You are promoting the idea that we can call the great Creator of the Universe anything that we like, but don’t call Him by His own revealed preference. REPENT JOHN, and allow Him to lead you and others to His true revelation of Himself!

John Continues: Lost Pronunciation

As we investigate the so-called “sacred names” of God in the Hebrew more closely, the name of God that gets the most attention in this cult teaching is “Yahweh.” The four consonants of the ancient Hebrew name for God are called Tetragrammaton. The Jews felt that the four consonants were too sacred to be spoken, so transliteration occurred – that is “writing or spelling words or letters in corresponding characters of another alphabet.” The Tetragrammaton (the four consonants of the ancient Hebrew name for God) became transliterated JHVH, IHVH, JHWH, YHVH, YHWH.

Ancient Hebrew was written ONLY in CONSONANTS and few semi-vowels and those who read it aloud had to supply the missing sounds, just as English had no vowels as part of the language, prior to 1200 AD. When the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity under Ezra and Nehemiah about 440 BC, they began to reference the name “Yahweh,” so greatly that the very use of the word was outlawed; first for the common people, later for the priests. Finally, only the high priest and then only on the Day of Atonement was it allowed to be said. When Simon, (300-270 BC) died, who was the last high priest permitted to use the word, a total prohibition against saying the name came into force among the Jews. They would substitute the word “Adonai”- “Lord” for “Yahweh” or sometimes “Elohim” – “God” for the “YHWH” whenever they encountered it when reading the scriptures aloud.

Medieval Jewish scribes who preserved the Hebrew Old Testament, the Nazarites, around the 6th Century AD, devised a system of using dots and other small marks to symbolize what vowel sounds came between the originally inspired consonants. However, the pronunciation of “Yahweh” was NOT preserved by them. Whenever “YHWH” appeared in the text, they added the vowel points for “Adonai” or sometimes, as appropriate, “Elohim,” in order to avoid saying “Lord” twice in a row. This clued the oral reader to say the substitute name for “YHWH.”

Why Did the Jews Stop Using YHWH?

The Jews came to have this misconception against saying “YHWH” due to a misinterpretation in Leviticus 24:11, 16. The Hebrew word translated “blaspheme” in these texts “nachav” – can also be translated “to say clearly” or “to declare distinctly.”

If we translate “nachav” this way in Leviticus 24:16, a total prohibition against saying “YHWH”: “and whoever “declares distinctly” the name of “YHWH” shall surely be put to death and all the congregation shall surely stone him…” Since the Jews, over the centuries, made the oral tradition of interpreting a hedge or fence around the actual written law of the Torah to help insure the latter wasn’t violated, the same practice was adopted here. To play it safe, they decided NEVER to say the name “YHWH” even though the inspired scriptures contained this name time and time again demonstrating the error of this tradition.

The Origin of YHWH

The Word “YHWH” comes from an archaic form of the verb “to be” in Hebrew, although its exact derivation is disputed. Some scholars suggest this name originally meant “He causes to be,” others believe it meant “He exists,” and one has simply stated “He Who Is.” One suggested another meaning for “YHWH” is “WAS – IS – WILL CONTINUE TO BE.” The tie between the letters “YHWH” and the Hebrew verb referring to existence is clearly made in Exodus 3:14-15 after Moses saw God in the burning bush and wanted to know God’s Name in order to proclaim it to the enslaved Children of Israel. God's answer to Moses was “I AM WHO I AM!” And He said, “Thus shall you say to the Children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’…and he said to Moses to tell the children that the Lord (YHWH) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.” God DID NOT instruct Moses to tell the people that His Name was YHWH in this verse.

COMMENT: John, John, John, Your very last sentence here is COMPLETELY FALSE! You have just printed it in your own statements and then you flatly deny it. Let’s look at it again, “And Moses said unto Elohim, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The Elohim 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 Elohim 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.

 15 And Elohim said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh (YHWH) Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations,” Ex. 3:13-15.

All Bible scholars, John, understand that the great Creator of the Universe was telling Moses that His name is Yahweh forever. That Yahweh is His memorial, His remembrance, what He is to remembered by to all generations.

John Continues: The English Moffatt Bible translates the phrase as “The Eternal sent you.” And the Fenton translation is “The Ever Living One sent you.” Since the basic meaning has been preserved for YHWH, but the exact pronunciation has been lost, it is evident that what matters to God MORE is what this name for Him means rather than the specific Hebrew pronunciation of the four letters “YHWH.” And yet there are those who say that, if the sound is not correctly made, then it becomes an object of your salvation or the lack thereof.

COMMENT: Let’s see, John, what is the translation of your own name. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance it is “Yahweh-favored.” Since “Yahweh” can be translated as “The Eternal” or “The Ever Living One,” do people call you “Yahweh favored,” or “The Eternal favored,” or “The Ever Living One favored?” Could you write a check, signing it with one of these three translations, take it to the bank and cash it? Furthermore, since Noah means “rest,” Abraham means “high father of many nations,” Isaac means “laughter,” Jacob means “heel-catcher,” Israel means “he has prevailed with El,” Satan means “adversary,” do you refuse to speak these names, because they are Hebrew and prefer their translation? Absolutely not! You extend the courtesy of utilizing their name, not the translation.

By the way, your own name is derived from the Hebrew. Since you are adamant against the use of Hebrew names, (or is it just the Hebrew name of the Creator?), why don’t you translate your own name into one of the two latter translations (since you don’t like the name Yahweh) and refuse to utilize John anymore?

John Continues: I have seen articles expounding that you should never write “God.” In fact, I have seen some people write articles and express God as “G-d” because they believe it is a SIN to put the three letters together forming the English sound “God” because it was used by the pagans.

This, of course, leads to this great fallacy that Christians today should only use the Hebrew names for God to be saved. It is said that, because the English word “God” was used for pagans gods by our ancestors centuries ago, this word should never be used to refer to the ONE TRUE GOD – THE ETERNAL. This claim ignores that the word “Elohim” and its various forms are repeatedly used in the scripture to refer to false gods time and time again. An example, “Elohim” is used 240 times to refer to pagan gods, “El” 50 times, and “Eloah” 5 times. Once, in Isaiah 57:5, “El” is translated as “idols.”

When the Philistines celebrated their victory over Sampson, the word “Elohim” was applied to their god, Dagon, by the inspired Hebrew writer of this account. (Judges 16:23) Furthermore, as the Ugarit discoveries demonstrate, the Semitic word for “El” has been in use in the Middle East applied to false gods long before Moses was born. This root word was used to refer to pagan gods long before the Eternal established Israel and so, by the same reasoning that they used to ban the English word “God,” then the writers of the inspired scriptures should not have used “El” and “Elohim.” The fact that “El” and “Elohim.” were used time and time again in the Old Testament referring to false gods, and the root word “El” was used by pagans to refer to their gods centuries before the Torah or the Old Testament was completed by Moses, conclusively proves that God does not prohibit the use of other words and other languages referring to Him that also have been used referring to false gods. What MATTERS is NOT the sound or markings that represent the concept as a word, but what the user MEANS by the word in question when he says or writes it. Hence, the English word “God” is a perfectly fine word to use when referring to the Almighty, even though the word “god” is used referring to all of the gods of the pagan religions. This also applies to the name “Jesus,” even though these same people believe Jesus is also the name of the pagan god ZEUS!

COMMENT: While there are some few assemblies who do not like to utilize the terms “El,” “Elohim,” etc., because they can be associated with pagan deities, the fact of the matter is that Yahweh is the eternal, ever living One. He inspired Moses to utilize these terms as COMMON NOUNS, NOT PROPER NOUNS in reference to Himself, as well as the false pagan deities. Yahweh is the Creator’s name. That is the PROPER NOUN that should be associated with Him according to His own word. The inspired common nouns are also proper to utilize for him, but not as replacements for His name.

The reason why this author refuses to utilize the word “God” for the Creator Yahweh is due to in-depth, intensive research into the history and etymology of that word. In 1992-1993 Garner Ted Armstrong authored a booklet entitled “What Is God’s Name?” In this very booklet, he revealed that the word “God” is associated with “Taurus the Bull.”

This began a research, which took years to compile. I discovered that almost all deities of the nations were worshipped as “Bull-Gods.” I discovered that the earliest civilization, the Sumerians had a letter in their alphabet, which depicted the head of an ox. The letter was named “Gud.” The word “God,” itself, stems from the Teutonic races of which are the Goths, Germans, Dutch, Anglo-Saxon, Swedes, etc. In German the word is Gott, in Dutch and English it is, of course, God, in Swedish it is Gud, in Gothic it is Guth. All of these words seem to stem from the primary root word “gheu.” GTA revealed that the word “Guth” stems from “Taurus the Bull.”

Wade Cox of the Christian Churches of God, also verifies that the word “God” is associated with “Taurus the Bull” in his study entitled “The Etymology of the Name of God.” He even goes so far as to declare that “Yahovah is the Bull of Israel. He is Messiah as the Great Bull of Heaven acting for the Father, the center of ultimate goodness.” (p. 2.)

I have seen where Yahshua is likened to the Lamb of Elohim slain to take away the sins of the world and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but the Scriptures have refrained from likening Him to an ox, calf, etc.

We know the story concerning Israel being delivered into the wilderness and when Moses was in the mount with Yahweh, Israel, under Aaron’s guidance, made the image of a calf out of gold and then declared, in effect, that the image was Yahweh. Over 3,000 died because of this apostasy. Yahweh lamented in Psa. 106:19-20, “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed my glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.”

The root of the English word “God” is gheu. Gheu is associated with a molten image.

Scripture declares that Satan the Devil has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9). In the research into the word “God” this author has determined that while Old Testament Israel made a physical image of the calf, New Testament Israel has been deceived to make a spiritual image of the calf to represent their Creator. What goes around, comes around. When history is forgotten, it is bound to be repeated.

The Scriptures declare, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his anointed (Messiah), saying,

 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their c