Maranatha Evangelistic Ministries : Study Resources : Notes and Articles for a Deeper Biblical Understanding



		The Name
		The name of God given to Moses as the burning bush is made up of four Hebrew letters: Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. The Vav can sound like three different English letters: V, W, or U, so the letters of God’s name are roughly equivalent to YHVH, YHWH, or YHUH. In fact, this is where translators have derived the name, “Yahweh” or “Jehovah,” (although it is nearly certain that neither of these is its actual pronunciation). No one actually knows how to pronounce the name. According to Jewish tradition, the name was only pronounced by the high priest from the Temple on the Day of Atonement each year, and when he did, the entire nation would fall prostrate because of its power. The meaning of this name has been translated “I am” or “I am who I am.” The letters of the name can even be re-arranged to mean “I was” or “I will be.” The name sums up the eternal nature of God, who has no beginning and no end. What is highly significant about this meaning and the tradition accompanying the name, is that in John 18:6, Yeshua responds to the guards, “I am,” and they fall to the ground before Him. Is it possible that He identified Himself as the "I AM" because He is the God of Israel, and they couldn't help but fall before Him? Not only is this God’s eternal name, but it is that the name is always identified with God’s mercy. Incredibly, this eternally merciful Name of God may have labeled Yeshua as the God of Israel as He died on the cross for our sins. The gospels, with slight differences in their accounts, recount that the sign above Yeshua’s head said “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” If the sign said “and King of the Jews” in its Hebrew rendering, which is very probable, the acronym of His sign in Hebrew would have spelled the four-letter name of God, and proclaimed publicly that this man was the God of Israel: Yeshua HaNotzri Umelech HaYehudim God told us that He would put His name in Jerusalem. Not only did He do it in the Temple, but He put it on His Son.