Yahweh

The Bible uses many words and descriptions for God, but the most prominent of all is His personal name, Yahweh. This name could be based on the Hebrew verb “to be” or it could be an independent word expressing the uniqueness of the God is Israel. The name Yahweh is used 6,823 times in the Old Testament and found in all but three books (Ecclesiastes, Esther, and Song of Songs). It is referred to as the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), Greek for “made of four letters.” In most English translations, it appears as “LORD” in all capital letters to distinguish it from other Hebrew words for God. Since no vowels accompany these four consonants in the oldest Hebrew texts, there are different opinions on the spelling and pronunciation of this name. 

The issue is complicated by the fact that the Jews before the time of Christ were hesitant to pronounce the name for God for fear of blaspheme (Leviticus 24:16). Consequently, they began to substitute another word for God, namely “Adonai” (my Lord). In the Middle Ages, the Jews decided they would write the Hebrew consonants YHWH using the vowel points for Adonai as a reminder to Jewish teachers to say “Adonai” instead of “Yahweh.” This combination of words eventually resulted in the inaccurate English word “Jehovah.” But there is no “J” sound in Hebrew so to be as precise as possible the name “Jehovah” should never be used for God. While it is possible that God’s name could be pronounced as “Yehowah” or another way, it is best to stay with the traditional Yahweh.

After God revealed to Abraham that He would bless him with a nation, Abraham built an altar to God calling Him by His name Yahweh (Genesis 12:8). Calling God by His name implied that Abraham had a personal connection with Yahweh and was committing to follow Him as the true God wherever He sent him. In Exodus 6:2-3 God came to Moses personally and introduced Himself, 2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD (Yahweh). 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD (Yahweh). This again shows that Yahweh desires to have a relationship with His people and guide them in His plan. He told Moses earlier in Exodus 3:14-15, 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD (Yahweh) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever. God is saying that nothing else defines Him but Himself. Whatever God does is exactly Who He is. Yahweh is the all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign God Who alone defines Himself and Who alone establishes truth for His people to believe. Yahweh is the creator and author of life (Proverbs 8:22-31). His statement of “I Am” expresses the fact that He is the infinite personal God Who is behind everything and to Whom everything must finally give account. Yahweh has proven to be a faithful God Who is working out redemption in the history of the world. Yahweh proclaims His loving kindness toward His people in Exodus 34:6-7, 6 “The LORD (Yahweh), the LORD (Yahweh) God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. We today should relish the fact that we can have a personal relationship with Yahweh though our Lord Jesus Christ Who revealed to us the truth about how we can live with Yahweh forever.