F4F | Why Do I Say God's Name is Yahweh?

Fighting for the Faith

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:15

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseboro. I am your servant in Jesus Christ.

00:20

This is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God. Now, a little bit of a confession.

00:28

It's really been a long time since I've done any kind of like answering audience questions or things like that.

00:34

And I thought, you know, maybe it's time for me to amend my ways. From time to time, there come up really good questions in the comments that are left for us there on our

00:45

YouTube channel. So probably a good idea, I might want to address some of them. So that's what I thought

00:50

I would do today. We'll kind of change it up a little bit. A good question as it relates to why I use the name

00:55

Yahweh when referring to God. In fact, let me do this. Let me whirl up the desktop and let me open up Keynote here, because this is where I put this.

01:04

So this was a comment left by Steve. He says, it would be better if you used a real

01:10

English Bible that does not use the word Yahweh. We'll talk about that.

01:15

It says, what's wrong with Lord or God? From what I've read, Yahweh is the name of a pagan deity.

01:21

By the way, Steve, I don't know where you got that information from. That's absolutely false. And I'll show you it from the

01:27

Hebrew text. The reason why I use the word Yahweh has nothing to do with it showing up in the

01:33

ESV, which I teach from, because it doesn't. In fact, let me show you. Let's do this.

01:38

Let's whirl up my computerized Bible. And I think my

01:44

Hebrew is just a little too big here. So we're going to talk about the word Yahweh. Where does it come from?

01:49

So I'll show you just a clear example of it from the Hebrew text here from Exodus chapter three, and the name itself and kind of what it implies and how we understand how it works.

02:00

And I'll show you something from the New Testament as it relates to Jesus as well. So now Moses was keeping the flock of his father -in -law

02:08

Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

02:16

This is Mount Sinai. And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

02:26

So you're going to note the ESV, this is the English standard version. It doesn't say Yahweh. I supply the word

02:33

Yahweh. It does instead use L -O -R -D and it's all capitalized.

02:39

So when you're reading an Old Testament text and your English translation has L -O -R -D all capitalized, the

02:47

Hebrew word behind it, and it's this big one, this one over here on the other side, is what's called the

02:53

Tetragrammaton. The four letters, the name of God, and the name of God is

02:59

Yahweh. It comes from the Hebrew verb ha -Yah, which means to be, and Yahweh is the third person masculine singular form that we speak back to God.

03:15

I'll explain that in a minute here. But so we can see every time you hear me reading and I see the word

03:22

L -O -R -D all caps, I say, I supply the name Yahweh, because it was the Pharisees who came up with the superstition that, well, the

03:31

Bible says in Exodus 20 that you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, actually says the name of Yahweh your

03:38

God in vain, that's what it says. And so they said, well, we'll never take God's name in vain if we never say his name.

03:46

There's many ways that you can take God's name in vain without actually using the name Yahweh.

03:51

So they were the ones who came up with this idea of every time the name Yahweh shows up in an

03:57

Old Testament text, they replaced it with the Hebrew word Adonai.

04:03

Now they didn't replace it in the Masoretic text, but what they did is they pointed Yahweh using the points for Adonai.

04:12

And the idea then is that if you were attending an Orthodox Jewish synagogue and, you know, or a

04:19

Pharisaical synagogue, those are synonymous concepts, by the way, whenever they were reading out an Old Testament text and God's name appeared, they wouldn't say

04:28

Yahweh, they would say Adonai, okay? I don't follow the

04:34

Pharisees' ideas, traditions, or superstitions, I can read the Hebrew text, it says

04:39

Yahweh. So we're going to go with what God's name is, and we'll explain what it all means here in a minute.

04:45

And this is really kind of the text to explain that out. So Moses was keeping the flock of his father -in -law

04:51

Jephthah, the priest of Midian. He led his flock to the west side of Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

05:00

He looked and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.

05:09

When Yahweh, again, Tetragrammaton shows up, saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him from out of the bush,

05:16

Moshe, Moshe, he said, here I am. He said, do not come near, take your sandals off your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy ground.

05:25

And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

05:34

Then here we go again, Yahweh said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt.

05:41

I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the

05:47

Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey to the place of the

05:54

Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me.

06:02

And I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

06:13

But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

06:19

He said, but I will be with you. So God here says, key, eh, yeah, all right, eh, yeah.

06:30

That's from the Hebrew verb, haya, which is where we get the word Yahweh from.

06:36

And God says, I will be with you, all right? So there's a sense in which the name

06:42

Yahweh, it really implies God's presence. He's with us. But there's a little bit more to it than that.

06:48

And I'll explain as we get a little farther into this. But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you.

06:55

When you have brought the people of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the

07:04

God of your fathers has sent me to, and they asked me, what is his name? What shall

07:09

I say to them? And here we got a famous passage. So God said to Moses, and here he says, eh, yeah, ah, yeah, eh, yeah.

07:19

I am who I am. I am who

07:25

I am. I am. So the, you know, the name

07:30

I am is associated with, that's God's name. And so this again comes from the

07:37

Hebrew verb haya, and eh, yeah, is the first person singular form of it.

07:45

Yahweh is the third person masculine singular form of it, which we say back to God.

07:51

And that is, is that like saying he is, right? Now, let me give you an example then that will kind of help out a little bit.

07:58

In Revelation 8, God speaking, I am the alpha and the omega says the

08:04

Lord God, who is, who was, who is to come.

08:11

So Yahweh, you know, or, you know, haya is this idea that God is the self -existing one.

08:17

He's also the with us one. And God has always been, so he is the one who is, who was, who is to come.

08:23

Revelation 1 .8 is picking up really on the Hebrew concept of what's going on behind the name of God.

08:31

Revelation 22 .13 says, I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And that's

08:36

Jesus speaking because Jesus is Yahweh. So the idea then is, is that the word

08:43

Yahweh, it's all this interplay, if you would, with the Hebrew verb haya. All right.

08:49

So God says, he says, I am who

08:55

I am. We say God is Yahweh, he is. Okay.

09:00

That's really the idea behind it. God is the, is the ising God. He's the self -existing one.

09:07

He's the one who is, who was, who is to come. And that name, wow, says a lot.

09:13

Now I'll throw in a little bit of extra stuff here too. Because when it comes to Jesus Christ, it's important that we recognize who

09:21

Jesus is. He is the I am. And, and so let's, let's find a clear passage along these lines and you'll get what

09:29

I'm saying here. In Romans 10, it says this, Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments or continues to keep on doing them shall live by them.

09:41

But the righteous, but the righteousness based on faith says, do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven?

09:47

That is to bring Christ down. Or who will descend into the abyss? That is to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say?

09:53

The word is near you. It's in your mouth. It's in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is

10:00

Lord. Now, real quick, when we're confessing that Jesus is

10:05

Lord, are we just confessing that Jesus is the boss?

10:11

It's more than that. So this, what does it mean to confess that Jesus is Lord? Well, watch.

10:18

And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified.

10:24

With the mouth one confesses and is saved. For what does the scriptures, for what, for the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

10:34

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

10:41

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

10:47

And if you do your cross references here, that is Joel chapter two, verse 32, being quoted by the apostle

10:54

Paul. Everyone who calls on the name of the

10:59

Lord will be saved. Well, watch this. You know, he clearly, Paul is saying that Joel 2 .32

11:07

is referring to Jesus. Because we, everyone with your mouth, you confess that Jesus is

11:14

Lord and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Well, when you go to Joel 2 .32,

11:20

here it is in context. Joel prophesying, I will show my wonders, show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.

11:29

The sun shall be turned to darkness. The moon to blood before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes.

11:36

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.

11:42

So you'll note your Old Testament, if your English translation says, everyone who calls on the name of the

11:48

Lord will be saved. But the Hebrew says Yahweh, everyone who calls in the name of Yahweh will be saved. And so we know then that from here,

11:55

Romans chapter 10, verse 13, everyone who calls in the name of the

12:01

Lord will be saved. That's referring to Jesus. That means Jesus is Yahweh. Well, it's even better than that.

12:08

And let me give you another text that we're all familiar with. Philippians chapter two says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

12:19

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. So have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.

12:37

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

12:46

So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

12:58

Lord to the glory of God the Father. Well, this portion right in here, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven on earth, that has its antecedent in the prophet

13:11

Isaiah chapter 45. I'll start at verse 21. Isaiah 45, 21 says, declare and present your case.

13:18

Let them take counsel together. Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old?

13:25

Was it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other God besides me.

13:30

So who's talking? Yahweh, right? And it wasn't not I, Yahweh? And there is no other

13:35

God beside me, a righteous God and a savior. And there is none besides me. So turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am

13:44

God and there is no other. By myself, I have sworn from my mouth has gone out in righteousness, a word that shall not return.

13:55

To me, every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall swear allegiance. Wait, wait, wait.

14:04

Philippians says to Jesus, every knee will bow. Right. Yahweh speaking in Isaiah 45.

14:11

And that means Jesus is Yahweh, right? Now, another little bit of a note here, you know, let's talk about the word

14:19

Yah. So you can take the name Yahweh and you can shorten it. This happens a lot in Hebrew names and also a very famous word that you all know, that you're all familiar with.

14:30

Hallelu -Yah, right? Yah is the shortened form of Yahweh. So for instance, let me just show you a couple examples of where this shows up in the

14:38

Old Testament. When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his first son was

14:46

Yoel. Now, Yoel means Yahweh is

14:51

God. The Yo, that's the shortened form of Yah, Yah. So Yoel, that means that Yahweh is

15:00

God. In Judges 18, the people of Dan set up carved image for themselves and Yoanathan, Yoanathan, that's

15:12

Yahweh he has provided, right? Jonathan, Jonathan.

15:18

So, and then here's the famous one that everybody knows. Praise Yahweh is

15:25

Hallu -Yah, Hallu -Yah, right?

15:32

And then that gets translated into Greek as Hallelu -Yah, right? Hallu -Yah, Hallu -Yah means praise

15:38

Yahweh. And you can hear at the end here, Yah, that's the shortened name of Yahweh.

15:44

So when you hear the word Yah or forms of Yah in the names of the people of Israel in the

15:50

Old Testament, that's invoking Yahweh. So you get the idea, but let me show you one other bit.

15:56

And if you remember back here, God's name is I Am, right? Well, Jesus uses that name for himself a few times.

16:06

I think in particular, hang on a second here, I'm doing this from memory. All right, it's Matthew 14.

16:12

So watch what happens here. And I'll make the Greek just a little bit bigger.

16:19

Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds.

16:24

After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.

16:30

But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves. The wind was against them.

16:36

And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. But the disciples saw him walking in the sea.

16:42

They were terrified and said, it is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately, Jesus spoke to them saying, and this is where the

16:51

Greek is going to be super helpful. So he said, that means take heart, ego, a me,

17:06

I am. And then he says, do not be afraid.

17:13

Jesus uses the divine name for himself. I am from Exodus three.

17:20

He uses it for himself right here. Take heart. I am. Do not be afraid.

17:26

And in John chapter eight, he uses this name for himself in a way that nearly gets him killed.

17:33

He has this long running, let's say, conversation with the

17:39

Pharisees. And this battle is amazing.

17:47

So it says, I'll get to like the punchline though. John 8, 48. The Jews answered him. Are we not right in saying that you are a

17:54

Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus answered, I don't have a demon, but I honor my father. You dishonor me.

17:59

Yet I do not seek my own glory. There's one who seeks it. He is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

18:07

So the Jews said to him, well, now we know you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets. Yet you say, if anyone keeps my words, he will never taste death.

18:15

Are you greater than our father Abraham who died and the prophets who died?

18:22

Who do you make yourself out to be? So Abraham heard the words of God. God spoke to him directly.

18:28

And yet Abraham died. The prophets, they all received God's words and prophesied them.

18:34

And yet they all died. So they're pointing this out and they say, who Jesus are you making yourself out to be?

18:39

Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me of whom you say he is our

18:46

God. But you haven't known him. I know him. If I were to say I do not know him, I'd be a liar like you.

18:52

But I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.

18:58

Now, important to note here, when Jesus says your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day, this is extra biblical information.

19:05

It's not recorded in the Old Testament at all. So Jesus is acting like he knows

19:12

Abraham and he has extra information about Abraham that not even Moses recorded.

19:18

So the Jews said to him, you're not yet 50 years old and you've seen Abraham. And Jesus said to them, truly, truly,

19:27

I say to you before Abraham was, and this says, Ego eimi,

19:34

I am. He uses the divine name from Exodus 3 for himself.

19:40

So they picked up stones to throw at him. They thought he was committing blasphemy. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

19:48

So that's kind of a long answer to the question about, you know, why do I use the word Yahweh? Because that's the name of God.

19:55

And God is the one who says, I am. And then he uses, and they say, say to this people of Israel, Yahweh, the

20:02

God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. We understand how the

20:09

Hebrew word hayah here is being used by God to say that he is the one who is, who was, who is to come.

20:17

The self -existing one, the God who is always with you kind of thing. That's a big deal.

20:24

And so I, you know, coming back then, you know, we'll just kind of review the question. Steve says it would be better if you used a real

20:31

English Bible that does not use the Yahweh. The Bible, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew.

20:36

I read Hebrew. It's better if we say what God originally said.

20:43

And good translations of the Bible exist in, you know, all kinds of languages, including

20:48

English. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the original, the original Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and the name of God is clearly spelled out for that, for us there.

20:58

It's Yahweh. In other words, hallelujah, hallelujah, praise

21:04

Yahweh. You get the idea. So hopefully you found this helpful. If so, all the information on how you can share the video is down below.

21:11

And until next time, may God richly bless you in the grace and mercy won by Jesus Christ and his vicarious death on the cross for all of your sins.