You may well be asking yourself why we use the NAMES YHWH and YHWHSHUA when speaking of the ALMIGHTY. This is a fair question and I will attempt to make the answer plain as the Word of YHWH teaches it.
3:13 And Moses said unto Elohim, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The Elohim of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 3:14 And Elohim said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 3:15 And Elohim said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, YHWH Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
YHWH, HIMSELF, gave HIS NAME as "a memorial unto ALL generations." HIS NAME is not a "Hebrew Name" although it was first recorded in Hebrew by Moshe. The Name itself is a derivative of the Hebrew word "hayah" meaning 'to be'. The Father identifies HIS nature to Moshes as "I AM that I AM" (better is: "I will be what I will be"). HE then tells Moshe, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, YHWH ... hath sent me unto you: this is my name FOR EVER..." !!! It is very clear in the Word that this NAME is EVERLASTING.
The Name itself is composed of the 4 Hebrew characters seen at the top of this page: Yod Heh Waw Heh. In the English we transliterate (not translate, but give a "sound for sound" meaning) the NAME as YHWH. There are some who would tell you that there is no "w" in the Hebrew, and they are correct. But there is also no "y", "h", or "v". so don't let that feeble arguement throw you off track. It is the SOUND that we are concerned about.
So how do we know what the sound or pronounciation of the Father's NAME is? Many have struggled with that for many years. I, myself, went from YAHWAH to YAHVAH to YAHVEH to YAHWEH to YAHUWAH (Please note that these are not spellings of the Name but the way to try to show its pronounciation). Is it even possible to know how to pronounce the NAME YHWH? Some say that the pronounciation has been 'lost'. I believe that YHWH is TRUE and HIS Promises are yes and 'so be it'. HE tells us in John chapter 16 that HE WILL show us ALL truth.
16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
And HOW does He reveal HIS truth to us? What "tool" does the SPIRIT use to show us ALL things? The Word of YHWH of course. So somewhere planted deep in the Word is a clue, the pronounciation of HIS precious NAME. I was sure of this even in the times that I used other pronounciations, but I did what many do, follow what a man teaches them (mostly by sources outside of the Scripture). I, too, was guilty of this same thing. I took all the study helps, concordances, Hebrew language books, etc (I even went to an Orthodox Jewish cantor and asked him how to say the NAME - His response was "It sure is NOT YahVeh"( I wasn't using YHVH then and was surprised that he said that with an emphasis on the 'v' sound)). But all that these helps did was contradict one another. One said the "w" wasn't in Hebrew and came through the Germanic influence, the next scholar said that the "v" wasn't in the Hebrew and came through the Germanic influence. How was I to know without this intimate knowledge of the language, when even the scholars couldn't agree?
Well, I prayed !! We have the FATHER's promise! I had previously heard a brother say that the NAME was pronounced in a certain way. It was different from the way "everyone else" was pronouncing it, but in my spirit I felt that it was close to correct. But I wanted YHWH to show me in HIS Word definitive proof of the NAME. So I began to diligently study the Word. I also at this time had run across a study on the Hebrew language that showed that each letter in the Hebrew had a particular meaning. YHWH allowed this material to come to me, I believe, because it was CRITICAL to understand HIS NAME. So what Scripture did the Father give me as I studied? I was reading Genesis 29 one day and all the sudden the word just jumped off the page.
29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise YHWH: therefore she called his name YAHUDAH; and left bearing.
The Name of the forth son of Yacob (YisraeEL) is YAHUDAH. In the Hebrew it is spelled Yod Heh Waw Daleth Heh. The context of the scripture gives the meaning of the name: "I will PRAISE YHWH". If you notice carefully, the NAME YHWH (yod, heh, waw, heh) is in the name with a "D" (daleth) in the middle. Well it hit me in the spirit, and all of the sudden I remembered this Hebrew language study I had seen. I reread it and my spirit leaped within me!! YHWH revealed HIS NAME and the pronounciation IN HIS WORD!!
How did I know? The little letter "daleth" or "d" has an individual meaning. By now you have probably guessed it - that's right!! Daleth means PRAISE!!! "D" (Praise) YHWH! Do you have eyes to see what YHHW has revealed by HIS Spirit? Say the Name Yahudah. It is pronounced by every believer that I know almost as the following: YAH - OOO (as in new)- DAH. with the emphasis in the Hebrew being on the next to last syllable. That is accepted. So take the Daleth out and say it. You have HIS NAME left you know. Now if you believe HIS Word then you CAN know the true pronounciation of the NAME YHWH...
Well HalleluYAH :)) Praise HIS NAME!! My friend, if we stand on the word and NOT man's opinion we can not fail. Will all accept this? No, of course not. They will keep up with their arguements and their "wisdom that comes from man's knowledge". So be it. But when I stand before my precious Father I will be calling HIM by HIS Name as He revealed to us in HIS Word.
So we now know the Name of the Father. What was HIS earthly NAME as the MESSIAH? Well let's take a look at that next. Please click below to go to the teaching on the NAME YHWHSHUA.
What is the MESSIAH's NAME?