A short but deep dive in God’s Name!

Early in my Christian walk, I asked this question of a deacon while at the church I attended, “Why did the bible translators substitute God’s name with the all capital letters, LORD?” He looked at me and smiled, then said, “Because God’s name means Lord!” I walked away satisfied for perhaps a day, but as I gave it more thought, I realized I needed to research it. As most of you reading this know, I discovered that God’s name had been replaced in most English translations more than 6,800 times with various titles, predominately the previous mentioned, “LORD.”

Rather than focus on the negatives relating to why that decision was made, let’s explore how, with just a little context, we might find how an interesting aspect God’s name, might actually bless us in ways we’ve not considered. Before I make that point, and for some a background context, allow me to digress into a quick linguistic tour of God’s name (יהוה), or in English, YHVW.

YHVH, pronounced many different ways (for this article I will use, Yehovah), is a play off the word, chayah, which means to live, to exist, to remain alive. It was biblically defined as, “I AM WHO I AM,” or simply, “I AM!” God’s name is a declaration of His eternal existence. He is, He was, He always will be, it’s that simple!

While YHVH is rightly, “Lord,” (Master/Ruler) His name is so much more powerful than just that one simple word that appears in our translations. For example, if you ask your chosen search engine, “Does the God of the Bible have many names?” the answer will come back with a simple, “Yes!” And then it will proceed to run off a list of names, i.e. YHVH, God, LORD, Sovereign, etc., and then there will be an influx of adjectives that attach to His name, which, when attached, describe His greatness. It’s the latter, the adjectives, that I want to dig into. There is a blessing in those adjectives, that personally gave me comfort and peace, which I want to share with you.

While “YHVH” declares the One Eternal Being, His “name” is also revealed through His actions. When God does something “God-Like” in Scripture, there might be one of those adjectives that get attached to His name that describes what He did while broadening our understanding of His greatness. Yehovah-Rapha and Yehovah-Jireh would be two examples of an adjective being added to His name for this reason.

As has already been established, “YHVH” does not translate as LORD. Rather, YHVH is a word declares the everlasting existence of the ONE true God. Thus, as we read Scripture, we will see where YHVH does certain things that define Him, His character, and His abilities. For example, in Exodus 15:26, we learn that if the Israelites walk according to God’s direction, that God will be who heals them. If we look at the Hebrew in that verse, it actually says, “Yehovah Rapha.” Here is where it’s gets interesting… since the time when English became a language, we have been reading this as, “The LORD who heals.” But that is not what YHVH means, it isn’t “Lord” it is “IAM” or “The Eternal One.” Exodus 15:6 should have been translated into English as, “I AM your healer, I have always been your healer, I will always be your healer.” Or simply, “The Eternal Healer.” Are you following? Yehovah Shalom isn’t, “The LORD is Peace,” it’s “The Eternal Peace.” Yehovah Jireh isn’t, “The LORD will provide,” it’s “The Eternal Provider.” Yehovah Ra’ah” isn’t “The LORD My Shepherd,” it’s “The Eternal Shepherd.” This continues throughout Scripture with all other attached adjectives like Nissi (Banner), Tsidkenu (Righteousness), Sabaoth (Armies) and others.

How cool is it to get an additional witness to the fact that yes, God does indeed still heal, and will always heal? That He was our righteousness before we even knew what the word righteousness meant? Or that despite how life treats us at times, YHVH is and always will be, our Peace? Yet as awesome as it is to have even more proof that God doesn’t change and that He is active in our lives today, there is one very powerful name in particular, that is most worthy of consideration…

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

The above verse is quoting Isaiah 7:14, and it is saying “the son will be called Emmanuel.” I know, they called him “Jesus” instead!” Well yes, in English after it went through 4 languages. Perhaps we should go a little deeper? If you look up the underlying word for Jesus, you’ll find the Greek Ἰησοῦς (G2424) which is equal to the Hebrew word, Yehoshua (H3091). The word Yehoshua is a compound of two words, YHVH and shua (save/salvation). YHVH-Shua, not “The LORD who Saves,” but rather, “The Eternal Savior.” YHVH is the Eternal Savior just as He declared in Isaiah 43:11 and other places.

Matthew 1:21 says, “You shall call His name Yehoshua, for He shall save HIS people from their sins.” Yehoshua is YHWH doing what only YHWH can do, be our eternal salvation. And unto that NAME, that Authority, or that Power, every knee will bow.