God's Name
Human societies worship numerous different gods. In Okinawa, local gods still receive much reverence. Sacrifices of food, sake, and tobacco are offered up in all manner of unusual places. On a sidewalk, a small group of people may start to unpack a large variety of gifts on the spot and start praying and burning incense in a seemingly nondescript place. Other places have small fixed ‘altars’ that announce their purpose.
In the past, around the world, and in renowned places such as Greece, such as the gentiles surrounding the Israelite nation, all manners of gods – each with his or her own name – were worshipped. It is no surprise then that in our ‘scientifically developed’ world, worship of such unscientific and now mostly dead gods is now recognized as superstition by the majority of people.
For this reason, it does not surprise Christians, who believe in an almighty God, that a true God would demand an austere distinction between Himself and these other false gods. Nor does it surprise us that God has revealed his name to us so that we may call on this true God only.
Though a controversy has arisen about the pronunciation of God’s name, basically, most people accept that God’s name is either Yahweh or Jehovah. Since a lot of material exists on this subject, let me say that Jehovah is the more commonly known name, historically as well as factually at present. So though some insist that Yahweh is closer to the original pronunciation, Jehovah is the commonly accepted one.
In Matt 1:1, The RNKJV Bible translation calls Jesus Christ, Yahushua the Messiah while other translations stick to Jesus Christ. My point being, if those who speak English prefer Jesus Christ instead of the Jewish Yahushua then we see it as a problem of language difference, not of right or wrong. Thus Jehovah, which is historically a very old appellation, is obviously what most western nations prefer, historically and preferentially.
Only in the last few decades has this controversy burst forth by those who hate God and want to avoid using any name for him since they claim that Jesus is God the Almighty. As (Webster) Jeremiah 23:26b,27 states, “they are] prophets of the deceit of their own heart; 27Who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.”
Do those that attack the pronunciation Jehovah actively support the use of the Rotherham Bible or the Jerusalem Bible in which Yahweh is used? Or, do they actively use some other Bible in which the name Yahweh is used throughout?
Not in my experience! Rather, it seems they prefer a Bible such as the NIV wherein I cannot locate any name of God, neither in Gen 22:14, nor in Psalm 83:18 where the KJV and numerous other Bible translations retain token occurrences of God's name.
Do such ones preach Yahweh's name and his Kingdom or do they presume to teach that Christ is God the Almighty in a triune God? The facts speak for themselves. Such ones are clearly deceitful and "think to cause God's people to forget his name" by erasing it totally from their Bibles under the umbrella excuse that its true pronunciation is unknown when they stand condemned by using the English pronunciation for Jesus rather than its true Jewish one!
There is historical evidence that in 1278, in a manuscript called Pugio fidei, a Spanish monk, Raymundus Martini, used God’s name spelled Yohoua. Later the spelling changed to Jehova and in English to Jehovah. Today many question how this pronunciation came about, but the important thing for the average person is not if the Jews 2000 years ago used Yahweh or Jehovah; instead, the question is about what has become historically accepted.
Nobody in their right minds goes about saying that we need to change Jesus name to Yahushua. We are used to Jesus, and that is what we identify this person with today. Similarly, let’s accord Jehovah the same courtesy.
Personally, it makes no difference to me what the name is as long as it is as historically correct as possible!
(Edit on 2010.03)
Link to: God's name in object in Egypt
Link to: New Gertoux page with the pronouncialtion of God's name discussed and proved
Gerard Gertoux: Paradox of the Anonymous Name.
