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#Post#: 132--------------------------------------------------
Meaning
By: Mentor Date: December 19, 2012, 3:43 am
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[I]rcg.org[/I]
Church of God
If God’s name were only allowed to be spoken as some unknown
Hebrew word, then this same mysterious name would be attached to
His Church. Christ stated, “And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep
through Your own name those whom You have given Me, that they
may be one, as We are” (John 17:11).
In twelve different New Testament passages, the Church is
referred to as the Church of God—kept through the Father’s name.
That Church is not known as the Church of El-Shaddai or the
Church of YHWH, but simply the Church of God!
One of the collective terms used for the Church is found in I
Thessalonians 2:14: “For you, brethren, became followers of the
Churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for you also
have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they
have of the Jews.” Acts 20:28 is an admonition for the elders to
feed the “Churches of God.”
The terms “Churches of God” and “Church of God” were used by the
very apostles appointed by Christ. If these were improper names
for the Church, then this would not be the case. Anyone who
denies the use of the word “God” in association with His Church
is missing the point of Scripture.
In these examples, only the meanings of the names were
emphasized, as is the case throughout Scripture.
Certain people—mostly of the Sacred Names sects—reject the
traditional names of “God,” “Lord” and “Jesus.” They believe
people should address the Father and the Son only by their
Hebrew names. According to them, the phonetic sounds of God’s
names are more important than their meanings.
Whether pertaining to heroes, patriarchs, or incidental
references in passing, biblical names have specific meaning and
are given for a purpose.
For example, Adam was created from the ground, and his name in
Hebrew simply means “red earth.” Likewise, Abram’s name was
changed to Abraham, meaning “a father of many nations.” Also,
Jacob’s name (meaning “supplanter”) was changed to Israel
(meaning “prevailer with God”).
Another account showing the importance of one’s name is found in
I Samuel 25. The wife of Nabal acknowledged how her husband had
lived up to his name. Interceding on his behalf for his
thoughtless and merciless acts, she pleaded, “Let not my
lord...regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name
is, so is he; Nabal is his name and folly is with him” (vs. 25).
The meaning of Nabal is “fool.” The context shows that, by his
actions, Nabal fulfilled the meaning of his name.
God’s Names Have Meaning
The names of God are also filled with meaning, yet the Bible
places little, if any, importance on how each name should be
pronounced. If this were of importance to God—as the Sacred
Names sects insist—this would be a serious inconsistency in
God’s Word!
Shortly after the time of the Exodus, God, who thundered down
the Ten Commandments, was known by the name “YHWH,” a Hebrew
word meaning “Eternal” or “Everliving One.” Yet, today, no one
knows the exact pronunciation of this name. Some insist that it
must only be pronounced as “Yahvah,” while others say “Yehweh,”
and still others say “Yahweh.”
The same Personage who addressed Moses called Himself YHWH in
Exodus 6:2: “And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him, I am
the Lord:” The capitalized name “Lord” is always used where YHWH
appears in the Old Testament and is understood as the “Lord,” or
the “Eternal.” This is the One through whom God the Father
created the universe (Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11) and who later became
Jesus Christ (I Cor. 10:4; John 1:1-4).
Exodus 6:3 reveals more about the names of God: “And I appeared
unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God
Almighty...” The name translated “God Almighty” comes from the
Hebrew term El-Shaddai. Note that this was the name God made
known unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet, at the time of Moses,
God began to reveal more. Verse 3 continues, “...but by My name
Jehovah was I not known to them.” By a casual reading of this
verse, one would conclude that “Jehovah” was another revealed
name of God. But a closer examination of this word leads to a
different conclusion.
The name “Jehovah” in various Bible translations is a
mistranslation. The same Hebrew word translated “Lord” in verse
2 is mistakenly translated “Jehovah” in verse 3. Both of these
are YHWH and should have been translated “Lord.”
As explained in the Jewish Encyclopedia, the term “Jehovah” is
said to have been the invention of Pope Leo X’s confessor, Peter
Galatin. Other Catholic theologians introduced this
mistranslation into most Bible transcriptions. Even the
Jehovah’s Witnesses, as expressed in the preface of their
translation of the Bible, acknowledge, “While inclining to the
view the pronunciation ‘Yahweh’ as the more correct way, we have
retained the form ‘Jehovah’ because of the people’s familiarity
with it since the 14th century.” Clearly, the name Jehovah is
not biblical.
Another name of God is revealed in Exodus 3:13-14: “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 to 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, I AM has
sent me unto you.”
“I Am” comes from the Hebrew word Hayah (HYH), which means “to
exist.” The name “I Am That I Am” carries a very profound
meaning somewhat beyond the English terms we use to express it.
It conveys the meaning of the “Self-Existent One” or the “One
Who Is.”
The name I AM THAT I AM only has meaning in the language one is
using —understanding. The true God appeared to Moses and
instructed him that He was, in effect, “the God who is,” as
opposed to “the many gods who are not.” The true God defines
Himself as the God who exists, when others do not.
A New Testament example of “I AM” is found in John 8:58: “Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham
was, I AM.” Here, the term “I AM” means the very same thing as
the term used in Exodus 3:14. Both mean “to exist” and refer to
the Self-Existent One—who became Christ. Certainly, Christ
existed before Abraham, because He was the One who created all
things (Eph. 3:9).
What meaning does any of this have to an Englishman if he must
only say it in Hebrew?
If our salvation rested upon how we pronounce the name YHVH,
then God would have made this crystal clear in His Word. Those
who make the detailed pronunciation of God’s names a primary
issue for salvation have the wrong priorities. Indeed, we are to
reverence and fear God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son.
Nowhere does the Bible require God’s people to accurately
pronounce His Hebrew names in order to achieve salvation.
Thirty-one times in the first chapter of Genesis, the word “God”
comes from the Hebrew word Elohim, a uniplural word indicating
more than one Being in the God Family. It means “mighty ones.”
The singular term for Elohim is El, which means “a mighty one,”
and is also translated “God.” When used with certain other
Hebrew words, the term El prefixes a variety of names for God,
each emphasizing different attributes of His nature and
character.
Sacred Names advocates claim that they elevate God’s names by
expressing them exclusively in Hebrew. Actually, just the
opposite occurs. This practice diminishes them—and the meaning
they are intended to convey—by substituting an ancient language
that hides the real meaning behind a foreign-sounding utterance.
In the English language, the term “Eternal” means “without
beginning or end, perpetual, and lasting throughout eternity.”
Suppose this English term is substituted where someone is
describing a concept in the Chinese language or perhaps in
Sanskrit. Substituting the English term for “Eternal,” instead
of the translated equivalent term in their spoken language,
would create a void in the intended thought. Likewise, the
substituting of the names of God in Hebrew serves to hide the
meaning behind them. Since the names attributed to God are not
without meaning, the act of masking them in an ancient language
serves to cloud or hide the honor intended to be conveyed by
those names.(
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