God has no shortage of\nnames–He is called by almost 1000 different ones in the Bible. But one of\nthese names stands alone, and that name is Yahweh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name Yahweh (yah-WEH)\noccurs more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament. It appears in every book but\nEsther<\/strong>,\nEcclesiastes<\/strong>,\nand the Song of\nSongs<\/strong>. As the sacred, personal name of Israel’s God, it was\neventually spoken aloud only by priests worshiping in the Jerusalem temple.\nAfter the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, the name was not pronounced.\nAdonay was substituted for Yahweh whenever it appeared in the biblical text.\nBecause of this, the correct pronunciation of this name was eventually lost.\nEnglish editions of the Bible usually translate Adonay as “Lord” and\nYahweh as “LORD.” Yahweh is the name that is most closely linked to\nGod’s redeeming acts in the history of his chosen people. We know God because\nof what he has done. When you pray to Yahweh, remember that he is the same God\nwho draws near to save you from the tyranny of sin just as he saved his people\nfrom tyrannical slavery in Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we get into what the\nname \u201cYahweh\u201d actually means, let\u2019s go back to its origin story in Exodus 3<\/strong>.\nIn this story, God is speaking to Moses through the burning bush and giving him\nthe mission to end all missions: freeing the Israelite people from Egyptian\ncaptivity. Understandably Moses has some concerns, the main one being\nhow he will convince his fellow Israelites that this really is a mission from\n(and blessed by) God. Then Moses said to\nGod, \u201cIf I come\nto the people of Israel and say to them, \u2018The God of your fathers has sent me\nto you,\u2019 and they ask me, \u2018What is his name?\u2019 what shall I say to them?\u201d God said to Moses, \u201cI am who I am.\u201d And he\nsaid, \u201cSay this to the people of Israel: \u2018I am has sent me to you.\u2019\u201d God also\nsaid to Moses, \u201cSay this to the people of Israel: \u2018The Lord, the God of your\nfathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent\nme to you.\u2019 This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout\nall generations.\u201d – Exodus 3:13-15<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What Does Yahweh Mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Exodus 3:13-15<\/strong> is the first Biblical usage of the name \u201cYahweh,\u201d and\nwe can see at the end of the passage that it is the name by which God has\nchosen to be remembered throughout all generations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The English language doesn\u2019t\nhave an exact translation of the word \u201cYahweh,\u201d so in our Old Testament we see\nit written as \u201cLORD\u201d in all capital letters. \nIn Jewish tradition, \u201cYahweh\u201d is too sacred a name to utter out loud.\nOver time Jews started to substitute in \u201cAdonai,\u201d or \u201cMy Lord,\u201d especially when\nspeaking. Another common replacement is the name \u201cElohim,\u201d which simply means\n\u201cGod.\u201d What\u2019s interesting is that these two replacement names are both used for\nother things as well, not just God, whereas Yahweh is reserved exclusively as a\nname for God. We see in Exodus 3:14<\/strong>\nthat God uses \u201cI\nAM<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cYahweh<\/strong>\u201d interchangeably, which tells us that \u201cI\nam\u201d is one way for us to translate the name \u201cYahweh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Yahweh Is the Self-Existent, Eternal God. <\/strong> God has no need\nof us. That simple fact can be a little\noffensive to our human nature \u2013 that part of us that wants to be significant;\nto be needed. But it\u2019s true \u2013 God does\nnot need us. He doesn\u2019t need anyone. He is completely whole within Himself, and\nHe is eternal \u2013 He has always existed, and He always will. He is the beginning\nand the end, the Alpha and the Omega. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And He is the only one in\nexistence who can be described this way. The rest of us need quite a lot to go\nright in order to keep existing! The most powerful human on earth is still at\nthe mercy of his health and fortune. God\nstands alone in needing nothing, in being wholly self-sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Yahweh Is a Relational God.<\/strong> Yahweh is only\nused in the Bible when the author is talking about God\u2019s personal relationship\nwith his people. A great example of this is Psalm 19<\/strong>. The author talks in the\nfirst 6 verses about Elohim (another name for God) and his relationship with\nthe material world. Then, in verse 7, he shifts and starts to write about\nYahweh and his relationship with those who know Him and who are in covenant\nwith Him. The fact that God introduces Himself\nto us as \u201cYahweh<\/strong>\u201d\ntells us that His first priority in relating to us is making sure we know that He\nis the intensely personal God, seeking to have a relationship with His\npeople. We talked earlier about how God\ndoesn\u2019t need us…but that makes it all the more wondrous that He wants us.\nThis is a God who was so love-motivated to know us and to be in relationship\nwith us that He came to earth as a human and took the punishment we\ndeserved. This is our relational God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Yahweh Is with Us.<\/strong> God is here,\nexisting, right now. Given you are reading\nthis article, there\u2019s a pretty good chance that you don\u2019t have a problem with\nthis. It is probably a core part of your belief system. But those who have the\nleast qualms with a God who exists can start to forget the beauty and\nsignificance of the fact that God is here. \nYahweh is here, interacting with our world, among us. And He does that\nout of love. God is under no obligation to remain close to us, working in our\nlives and writing a love story between Himself and the world. And yet, He\nchooses to do so. In fact, he chooses to build his very kingdom among\nbelievers: “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When will the Kingdom of God come?’\nJesus replied, ‘The Kingdom of God can\u2019t be detected by visible signs. You\nwon\u2019t be able to say, \u2018Here it is!\u2019 or \u2018It\u2019s over there!\u2019 For the Kingdom of\nGod is already among you<\/strong>‘” (Luke 17:20-21<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Yahweh Is the Unchanging God.<\/strong> Heraclitus\nsaid it best: \u201cThere is nothing permanent except change.\u201d Our world is\nconstantly shifting; everything is subjective. But our God does not conform to\nany of this. He remains constant through it all. He doesn\u2019t change His nature\nbased on what is new and popular at the moment. Yahweh has always been who He\nis, from the beginning of time; He has always been the standard for absolute\nperfection and holiness. We have the\nbinary choice to either choose Him and conform to him \u2013 or not. There is no\nthird option where we can have a slightly different version of Him. God isn\u2019t changed by new and popular\nphilosophies and theologies, as we can be. This\nis why we need to keep a white-knuckled grip on the truth of the unchanging\nGod.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Yahweh Is Wholly Other than Us.<\/strong> When was the\nlast time we took a step back and acknowledged the holiness of God? The most common theologies are ones that make\nGod into our own personal servant \u2013 the ones that will get us our best life\nnow; perfect peace and no problems. God\nis not a servant. He is infinitely and entirely other than you and me. “These things you have done, and I have been silent; you\nthought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge\nbefore you<\/strong>” (Psalm 50:21<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Yahweh Keeps His Covenant with Us.<\/strong> We talked\nearlier about how God only uses the term \u201cYahweh\u201d with His friends \u2013 the people\nwho know Him and who are in covenant with Him. Yahweh is the covenant-keeping\nname. God calls himself \u201cYahweh\u201d when he\nfirst enters into the covenant with Abraham, a subtle promise that He will\nforever be faithful in keeping his word. When He reveals himself again as\n\u201cYahweh\u201d to Moses, it is our reminder that He is unchanging, and we can trust Him\nnot to back out or change His mind. God\nwill never stop wanting us, and He will never cease in his pursuit of us. He is\nthe ultimate covenant-keeper, the One who keeps His promises and does what He\nsaid he will do. We can trust God as much as we want and it will never be too much. He\nwill always measure up.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Yahweh Is Full of Mystery… but Worth Seeking!<\/strong> Only a\nmysterious God would ask us to know Him as the God who is who He is. We weren\u2019t\nmeant to understand everything about Him, as evidenced by the fact that we\nsimply can\u2019t! We worship a God of\nmystery, yet a God who is closer than our very breath. Yahweh is a paradox, one\nwe will never reach the end of when it comes to our understanding of Him. There\nis simply too much of him to know fully in one lifetime! But we can always seek more. That should be our daily goal \u2014 to move one\nstep closer to knowing the God who is. The\nrichness and fullness of perfect love awaits anyone seeking to know the One who\nwould do anything to have us.<\/strong>And\nthat is worth the pursuit.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God has no shortage of names–He is called by almost 1000 different ones in the Bible. But one of these names stands alone, and that name is Yahweh. The name Yahweh (yah-WEH) occurs more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament. It appears in every book but Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526,537],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n