ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL
Presented by Steve Marlowe, Evangelist
Why did the Lord speak to Paul in the Hebrew Language?
Note: Paul’s name in Hebrew is Saul.
On the road to Damascus, Saul is confronted in mid-day by a bright light, described here in Acts 9:3-6, For we read, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am YAHSHUA, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’”
Wait, you say,
“Jesus is the name of the Lord in my Bible.”
That is true, but before we look at the name, let us first ask, why was Paul going to Damascus?
The apostle Paul spoke to his fellow Jews about his reason for going to Damascus in the Hebrew language, “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia (which is in modern-day Turkey), but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this (the) Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished” (Acts 22:3-5).
THE SAVIOR REVEALS HIS NAME IN HEBREW
What name did the Savior actually reveal to Paul and in what language?
We later discover from Paul’s testimony to Agrippa in Acts 26:14-16,
“And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' "So I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am YAHSHUA, whom you are persecuting.”
The Lord identifies the one name given under heaven by which we must be saved in Hebrew as
YAHSHUA!
I wanted to know a pastor’s response as to why the Lord spoke Hebrew to Paul, so I asked him, and he said,
“The Lord spoke Hebrew, Saul’s native language, for Saul to know He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who has stopped him and chosen him for a lifetime mission. Hebrew was the language spoken in the religious services in the synagogues and Temple, Aramaic, along with Greek was spoken in everyday life outside the religious meetings.”
I know this answer from the pastor regarding the use of Hebrew to be suppositional at best.
But again you say,
“Wait, the Lord’s name is ‘Jesus’ as found in my Bible, not YAHSHUA.”
Yes
apparently the name of Jesus is found therein our modern English versions, however, the name of Jesus has only existed since the 17th century.
If we look at a 1611 English Bible we find “Iesus,” not Jesus, a different name.
Both Iesus and Jesus are from the Latin language, which is a transliteration from the Greek language. In the Greek language, we find another name, “Iesous.” Historically, Iesous is a transliteration of the Aramaic name Yeshua, which was a somewhat common name at the time of the first century.
The Lord
never revealed His name as “Jesus,” and we know this because that name has only existed in the last four hundred years, and there was a different name prior to that, and this was all done by man, and not by the revelation of God. Jesus is only according to the tradition of man, and not according to the revelation of God.
According to the apostle, Peter, who filled with the Holy Spirit addressed the leaders of Jerusalem (Acts 4:8), and what he said about the name is astounding, for he said,
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
This means that there is only one revealed name given among men by which we must be saved. Would you not want to know this one name that affords you eternal life?
ORIGIN OF THE NAME JESUS
Middle English from Late Latin Iēsus from Greek Iēsous from Aramaic yēšûă‘ from Hebrew yahôšûa‘ in English Joshua
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous), from the Aramaic ישוע (yeshúa). The Greek text makes no distinction between Jesus and Joshua, referring to them both as Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous). The Latin Vulgate is likely the earliest to make a distinction, referring to Jesus as Iesus, and Iesus as Iesous and Joshua as Iosue.
My response to the pastor,
“Yes, it is true that Hebrew was the language spoken by the Jews in the synagogues and around the Temple in Jerusalem and in the synagogues abroad, and Aramaic and Greek was the common languages in everyday life outside of Jewish religious meetings, however, it was not necessarily the Lord’s reason using the Hebrew language to convince Paul that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by simply speaking Hebrew. Your answer should be considered a gross supposition. Since the Lord revealed His name in Hebrew there must have been a better reason then, ‘He wanted to prove that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ The revealed name of the Savior was given in Hebrew, and not to be subjected to linguistic changes due to man’s proclivity to change, however, God does not change” (Hebrew 13:8).
8 Yahshua Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Saul describes himself
as from the Tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee; who was persecuting the church
(Philippians 3:5-6).
5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
“But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this YAHSHUA is the Messiah” (Acts 9:22),
as he would have spoke to them by the revealed name of YAHSHUA in Hebrew.
Finally, it is a historic fact that the apostle Paul never knew the name of Jesus.
“Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘(HAYAH Ashar HAYAH) I AM WHO I AM. And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM (YAH) has sent me to you.’ Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD (YaHaWaH) 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, and this is My memorial to all generations” (Exodus 3:13-15)
We say Halleluyah, which is a Hebrew expression meaning “Praise YAH.” Signifying the name which is above every name. Halleluyah, Praise YAH, Praise YAHSHUA!
Because the Savior revealed His name to the apostle Paul in Hebrew, Paul knew,
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name (YAH), that at the name of YAHSHUA every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that YAHSHUA the Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
It is not the will of the Father that any should perish, as it is written in the Gospel of John: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
