WHAT IS GOD'S
NAME?
by
M.L.Bartholomew
This article is being written because there is much
confusion in the church - as concerning the name of God. We do
not wish to add to that confusion. However we feel it is
necessary to speak out on this subject. We are not doing this as
an attack on any one but in hopes we might clear the air. We have
nothing against our friends who think they have the whole and
complete answer to this question. But we do intend to prove that
God does NOT have a name like we do. Yet God has a name. His name
is above every name that is named. It is so high that we cannot
approach unto it. The names or titles we use for God is not God's
sacred name. If God gave man His sacred name it would not remain
sacred very long.
I have studied this question with the best sacred name
preachers that have ever existed. Elder C.O. Dodd was one of my
closest friends. We studied together night after night when I
pastored the Church of God in Salem, West Virginia. After
studying together for months, he changed the name of his
publishing house from Yahweh to Y.H.W.H.
We hope to be able to show in this writing why the
tetragrammaton Y.H.W.H. is very special and is destroyed when
vowel points are added.
MANY NAMES
The so-called sacred name people want us to believe that
they have the ONLY sacred name. Yet each of these groups claiming
to have the sacred name DIFFER in the spelling and pronouncing of
the name! Here are just a few of the different spellings. Yahweh,
Yahwah, Yahvoh, Yahvah, Yahveh, Yahwoh, Yahowah, and several
more. They DO NOT AGREE with each other and claim the other
groups from their's have a hybrid name. Brethren, this should not
be.
Let us go back to what we said before. God never gave a
pronounceable name when He gave the tetragrammaton.
Tetragrammaton means a word of four letters that is
unpronounceable. Each letter stands for a word. Those words are,
I AM THAT AM, or I am the Eternal. We take issue with those who
say the tetragrammaton should be I Am That I Am. This is five
words not four. This can only be interpreted to mean, I am what
I will be. This does not show that God is eternal. I Am That Am
is four words and shows God's eternal nature.
GOD IS THE "I AM"
Let us read Exodus 3:11-15; "And Moses said unto God, Who am
I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth
the children of Israel out of Egypt? And He said, Certainly I
will be with you; and this shall be a token unto you, that I have
sent you: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt,
you shall serve God upon this mountain. And
Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of
Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent
me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is His name? What
shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:
and He said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, The
Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of jacob, has sent me unto you: this is my name
forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Go,
and gather the elders of the children of Israel together, and say
unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely
visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt."
God is the great I AM of Scripture. He is the self existent,
eternal one.
When we say "God" we are using the English translation for
the Hebrew El, or Eloah. When speaking of "Gods" in the plural,
we are saying the same as Elohim in Hebrew. When anyone tells you
that by saying El, Eloah, or Elohim that they are not saying the
equivalent of God, they are only deceiving themselves. "God" is
the only corresponding word in English to the Hebrew El or Eloah.
I speak English because I am not Hebrew. Also, when someone
says Yehweh, Yahvah, etc. they are destroying the four letter
tetragrammaton and destroying the great name of God, the great, I
AM. There is not such thing as a sacred, holy, or universal
language on this earth since the tower of Babel. No ones name is
pronounced the same in all languages. We shall prove that Hebrew
was not the universal language before Babel as some contend.
THE LANGUAGES CONFUSED
Let us now go to Genesis 11:1-9, "And the whole earth was of
ONE LANGUAGE and of one speech. And it came to pass as they
journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of
Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, go
to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had
brick for stone, and slime they had for mortar. And they said, Go
to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto
heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see
the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And
the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they HAVE ALL ONE
LANGUAGE; and this they begin to do: and nothing will be
restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let
us go down, and THERE CONFOUND THEIR LANGUAGE, that they may not
understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them
abroad from thence upon all the earth: and they left off to build
the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the
Lord did there CONFOUND the language of all the earth: and from
thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of the
earth."
So the thing they wanted to prevent by building the tower,
happened because they tried to build the tower.
What happened here because they tried to build the tower,
concerning their language? The language they spoke which no man
today knows, was confused into several languages. Each of these
languages was a part of the ORIGINAL ONE. What was that language?
NO MAN KNOWS AND WHEN THEY SAY THEY DO, THEY LIE, and no liar
shall enter the Kingdom of God. THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE WAS
CONFUSED. It is just that plain. God has destroyed the universal
language, therefore the name of one man in one language will not
be the same in another. One name may sound something like the
same name in another language, and sometimes they do not sound
the same at all. If someone tells you that Hebrew was the
original language you know better because as we have just proven
the one language was confounded into several languages. No two
people who were working on the tower understood each other. Today
all of us speak different languages because of what happened at
the tower of Babel. So I believe that we have proven beyond a
shadow of doubt, that Hebrew was not the original language.
GOD'S DIFFERENT NAMES
God has more than ONE name! We will read some of these.
However, if we are a child of God we should NOT CALL Him by any
of them because He is our FATHER. We are in such a habit of
saying different titles for God that we do not always call Him
"father." However we should get into the habit.
One time my mother and I were talking to some people and I
said, "Jessie," which was my mother's name, "said so and so."
Instantly, her hand slapped right across my mouth as she said, "I
am your mother." I was dishonoring her by calling her by her
proper name. She was my mother. God loves it when we call Him
"father."
In Exodus 6:2,3, we read, "And God spake unto Moses, and
said unto him, I am the Lord, or YHWH. And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty
(El Shadai), but by my name YHWH - Jehovah was I not known to
them." So Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not know God as the I AM
or YHWH.
Let us read, Exodus 34:14; "For you shall worship no other
God: For the Lord, WHOSE NAME IS JEALOUS, is a jealous God."
Isn't that plain, that one of God's names is jealous. Yet we know
of no one who calls our heavenly Father by that name or title,
yet it would be more appropriate than Yahvah, Yahweh, etc.
because Jealous is a name of God and Yahweh or Yahvah, etc. is
not. But I am sure that God would have His children call Him
Father.
We will now read, Isaiah 57:15, "For this says the high and
lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose NAME IS HOLY; I dwell in
the high and lofty place, with him also that is of a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones." So here God says His name is
Holy. This is a good name to use with Father. "One Holy
Father." This is a title the Roman Catholics give to the Pope.
However, it is God's name or title.
Let us now read, Isaiah 42:8; "I am the LORD: that is my
name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images." Also Jeremiah 16:21; "Therefore, behold, I
will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine
hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is the LORD."
In the Bible when you read the word LORD it always refers to the
tetragrammaton or the four letter, unpronounceable name of God,
YHWH, or the great I AM. The names the so-called sacred name
people use is their own make up with whatever vowels they want to
use. Also they use the consonants as they so desire. Of course
none of them is correct.
Today in this world we all see things differently. We do not
see everything alike or eye to eye. Especially with our differing
backgrounds and languages. A word in one language might have an
entirely different meaning from the same word in another. Even
names are spelled and pronounced differently. We are STILL in the
confusion of tongues. When someone tells me I must speak the
Hebrew names as the Hebrew does I know that that is NOT the
person to follow. Listen to the Word of God; Isaiah 52:6-8;
"Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they
shall know in that day that I am He that does speak: behold, it
is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good
tiding of good, that publishes salvation; that says unto Zion,
your God reigns! Your watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the
voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye,
when the Lord shall bring again Zion."
These texts prove that we do not see eye to eye with another
now. All do not speak one language. However Yahweh, Yahvah, etc.
are not Hebrew even though some people say they are. They are
English conglomerations made of English vowels and consonants,
and are English NOT Hebrew. Anyone thinking they are speaking
Hebrew by using these made up names are only deceiving
themselves. They are ANGLICIZED Hebrew.
Zephania 3:8,9; shows us that no language spoken today is
pure. "Therefore wait you upon me, says the Lord, until the day I
rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the
nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine
indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be
devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to
the people a pure language, that they may call upon the name of
the Lord, to serve Him with one consent."
This should be plain enough that there is no pure language
in the earth today.
In bringing this study to a close we will turn to Psalm
138:2; "For I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise
your name for your loving- kindness and for your truth: for you
have MAGNIFIED YOUR WORD ABOVE YOUR NAME." How plain this is
that God's word or truth is above all His name. Even if we had
the pure heavenly language of God today, it would not be as
magnificent as His WORD or TRUTH. The NAME of the Father will
not save us, but following His word will. No name that we can
call our heavenly Father is sacred, but obeying His word will
give us eternal life. Whole groups are created just by saying
what they consider to be the Father's name and the correct way to
say it. This does not save a soul, but to follow the teachings
of Jesus will. Let us pray to the Father that He will enlighten
us in His word or truth.
We do not mean to offend anyone by what we have written.
However we cannot allow this teaching of a sacred name to go
unchallenged. I have seen the heartache and breakups OF FAMILIES
it has caused. Please pray to God earnestly about this.
.............................
The date this was written by the late Pastor Bartholomew is
unknown.
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