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The Name of God

The Name of God. Sermon 5 January 2014 FXCC Deaf Ministry. YHWH. The Hebrew spelling of God’s name A word no religious Jew will pronounce Appears over 6,000 times in the Old Testament! Considered too holy to be pronounced by humans. YHWH.

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The Name of God

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  1. The Name of God Sermon 5 January 2014 FXCC Deaf Ministry

  2. YHWH • The Hebrew spelling of God’s name • A word no religious Jew will pronounce • Appears over 6,000 times in the Old Testament! • Considered too holy to be pronounced by humans

  3. YHWH • The prohibition seems to have begun around the 3rd century BC • After the return from Babylonian exile • After the 2nd temple is built • No prohibition is known during the 1st temple period

  4. History Lesson • The prohibition goes back to Exodus 20:7 • The 3rd commandment • “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” • Original meaning was considered to be related to oath keeping when swearing by God’s name • Evolved to not using the Lord’s name lightly or frivolously.

  5. History Lesson • That evolved even more to not speaking the name at all • The fence the Jews erected around the Law • Don’t even come close to the line! • During Jesus’ time • The name could be spoken by the priests, but only in the temple service on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, early fall)

  6. History Lesson • The rabbis declared • “he who pronounces the Divine Name as it is spelled” were included among those who have no share in the world to come • But the word/name shows up over 6000 times! • What do you do? What do you say?

  7. Substitutes • The work around was word substitution • Adonai (another Hebrew word) is used instead • Means “my Lords” • However, Adonai then became somewhat sacred • Is only used in scripture reading and prayer

  8. Substitutes • Other work arounds developed for everyday use • Hashem (the Name) • Hamakom (the Place) • Hagavoah (the High) • Halashon (the Tongue) • Shamayim (Heaven)

  9. Substitutes • Jews even avoid saying Elohim (God) • They will intentionally mispronounce it as Elokim • Or write G_d in place of God • Even many secular Jews will honor these conventions

  10. Jehovah • This is not a word • Ok, not a Hebrew word • It was created due to a misunderstanding of how and why Jews used YHWH and Adonai • Written Hebrew had no vowels until about the 6th century AD • Spoken Hebrew has always used vowels

  11. Jehovah • By the 6th century there were few Hebrew speakers in the world • The Masoretes, Jewish scholars/rabbis, who maintained the copying of Jewish scripture developed a written vowel system • The oral work around of speaking Adonai vice YHWH was used to remind the reader what to say

  12. Jehovah • The vowels for Adonai were inserted into the written text in the word YHWH • Non Jews were unaware of the custom and thought those were the vowels for YHWH • They came up with the word Jehovah • Substituting the Latin “J” for the Hebrew “Y” • and substituting “v” for “w”

  13. English • Our translation conventions • Where the Jews speak Adonai, we most often translate as LORD or LORD GOD • In English translations, Jehovah is seldom used except in the ASV and Living Bibles

  14. Pronunciation • You often hear we don’t know how to pronounce YHWH • Actually we probably do • Comparison with other Semitic languages • Other Hebrew words/names • Obadiah (ovadyah) • Elijah (eliyah)

  15. Jesus • Jesus honored the Jewish custom/prohibition of His day • Especially in Matthew we see Jesus speaking of • The Kingdom of Heaven (i.e. God) • Mark and Luke wrote for Gentile readers and tended to use Kingdom of God

  16. Jesus • Matthew 21:5 “Was the baptism of John from Heaven or from men?” • Luke 15:21 the prodigal says “I have sinned against Heaven”

  17. Jesus • Matthew 26:64 • Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” • Power was another euphemism for God • Also refers to Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110:1

  18. Jesus • Psalm 110:1 “Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!”” • Daniel 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, “And with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him.”

  19. Jesus • With those two allusions, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Messiah, the Son of God • AND those who heard Him, understood

  20. Jesus as YHWH • God revealed Himself to Moses as YHWH in Exodus 3 • Jesus also uses this name in reference to himself • John 8:24 • John 8:58 • John 18:5-8

  21. Jesus as YHWH • John 8:24 “Thus I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” • John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!” 59 Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple area.” • John 18:5-8

  22. Jesus as YHWH • John 18:4b “Who are you looking for?” 5 They replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He told them, “I am he.” (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them.) 6 So when Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they retreated and fell to the ground. 7 Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, let these men go.”

  23. God’s Name Today • We don’t have special names, like YHWH, that we use in English today • We simply refer to the Creator of the universe as God. • To speak of God in some frivolous or demeaning way is still wrong • We can’t expect none Christians to revere God

  24. God’s Name Today • We CAN expect Christians to honor God in every way (action AND speech) • That mean OMG is something that should never cross our lips, fingers or keyboards! • So if you want a New Year’s resolution, make one to NEVER again dishonor God with that phrase

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