Tuesday, 05-10-2010
A discussion about the legitimacy of using the name Yahweh in our prayers and worship.
I have recently come across an article, http://www.seekgod.ca/htname.htm, which carries out a critical evaluation of what people regard as the true Name of God by drawing attention to how the theophoric element YH is rendered in Hebrew texts (depending on whether it's used as a prefix or suffix) and comes to an interesting conclusion.
The author appears to have aptly pointed out that there is no record at all in the gospels of our Lord Jesus calling God by the name YHVH.
Instead he addressed God as 'Father" in his prayers and in all his discourses he would refer to God as "My Father" or "The Father". In the same manner, he taught his disciples to say "Our Father who is in Heaven" in the Lord's prayer.
Perhaps, the only time he didn't address God as Father was when he hung dying on the cross, crying out, "Eloi, eloi, lama sabachtani?" i.e. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Even at the point of death, our Lord did not call God by the name YHVH.
Likewise, after his resurrection, he told the women in John 20:17 to "Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
Q: "The very usage of the YHVH is when Eve said in Gen 4:2 "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD. After that further down the chapter we see this verse. Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD. " So we see at this stage that men began to call on the name of the LORD. They must have know how to call YHVH. Moses and all the prophets also called YHVH. It was pronounced in the presence of the Pharoah and also Israelites when Moses had delivered them from Egypt. Actually all along YHVH 's name was been called and used."
A: "Another article entitled, Must we call God by a sacred Name?, by a monotheistic Christian author expresses somewhat balanced views on what you have observed from the OT.
After acknowledging that YHVH was originally used in the OT, the author nevertheless goes on to discuss the question of whether it is necessary for us to actually call our God by his sacred name. He asserts that the original pronunciation of YHVH is lost and, as in the earlier article which I have mentioned, he observes that our Lord Jesus never called YHVH by his name, but instead called him "Father".
Towards the end, and to my surprise, this article takes a step further to address the question of whether Christians should address even the Lord Jesus personally by his name "Jesus". He points out interestingly from the Gospels and the Epistles that his disciples never addressed him face to face in the second person as "Jesus" but instead as "Lord" and called him "the Christ, the Son of the Living God".
As such, while I agree with you, by examples you have cited from Genesis and from the account of Moses in Exodus, that God's people called upon His Name YHVH in the OT, I would at the same time be concerned that the exact pronunciation of the Sacred Name is debatable and that neither our Lord Jesus referred to God by His Name nor command his disciples to do so."
Q: " in the OT, Psalm 79:6 says,""Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations which do not know Thee, And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Thy name." Psalm 80:18, "Then we shall not turn back from Thee; Revive us, and we will call upon Thy name."
It seems to me implication is that those who do not call on His name will only stir up His wrath and those who do not call on His name may have turn their hearts from Him. And when the heart be revived will call upon His Name. in the Psalms I see the joy and delight of David calling on the name of the LORD.
In the OT, Israelites must remember the goodness of God, How to exalt the name of YHVH? Israelites must call on His name. Isaiah 12:4, "And in that day you will say, "Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted."
Zechariah 13:9 "And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'" - those who are refined by fire are those who call on His Name. God will say to them, they are MY people. and the people will say YHVH is my God.
Coming to the NT, Romans 10:13 for "Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved."
I see that again Paul said that those who call upon the Name of the LORD will be saved. Who are those who call on the name of the LORD? They are those who believe in God. Only those who believe in His Name will call on Him.
2 Timothy 2:22 "Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" This verse, 2Tim 2:22 seems to imply that there are a group of people who are calling on the name of the LORD. "
A: " I am reminded that in the NT, God has highly exalted our Lord Jesus and has given to him a name above all other names. In Phil. 2:9-11, the apostle Paul wrote:
"God did highly exalt him, and gave to him a name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee may bow -- of heavenlies, and earthlies, and what are under the earth -- and every tongue may confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Thus, we see that in the NT, our Father, YHVH, is glorified when we confess and bow at the name of his Anointed, our Lord Jesus.
Furthermore, when Paul and Sosthenes greeted the Corinthian Christians in 1 Cor. 1:1-3, they referred to them as: "those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all those calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place -- both theirs and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!"
This strongly indicates that the early Christians called upon the name of Yeshua (meaning YHVH Saves) instead of calling upon the name YHVH itself, a name which many believe that in the NT times, had already been regarded as an ineffable* Name by the Jews themselves.
*ineffable = cannot be pronounced
As such, in instances like Romans 10:13 (Joel 2:32) and 2 Tim. 2:22, it is the name Yeshua (Jesus) rather than the name YHVH that Paul was referring to when writing about "calling upon the name of the Lord".
Thus, it may be argued that when Paul quoted Joel 2:32 in Rom. 10:13, he regarded the name Yeshua (or YHVH Saves) so highly - as a name above all other names - that he had used it in place of YHVH in his teaching.
When these observations are taken together with the earlier ones about the practice of the Lord Jesus not calling God YHVH, but instead "Father" and "My God, my God . . ." in his dying moments, one must conclude that calling upon the name of Yeshua (Jesus) is the proper practice in the NT.
Let us remember that when our Lord gave the great commission to his disciples in Matt. 28:18-20, he said "All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth . . ." , and that in Acts 4:12, there is no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved. It is no surprise that the apostles had taught the NT Christians to call upon the name of our Lord Jesus."
