WHO IS GOD? And What is His Name?
GOD is the creator. The source, among all things, is the source of life. Is there only one God? “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him...we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord YAHSHUA the Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge...” (1 Corinthians 8:1-7).
God clearly distinguishes Himself from false gods, or goddesses, which are identified as created from the imagination of man, called idols. But what of “the so-called gods”? For they are not all false gods, but declared by God to be the Elohim (gods), the sons of God (Psalm 82:6). To distinguish Himself from other gods, the supreme God, the God of gods (Deuteronomy 10:17), has revealed to man His name (Exodus 3:13-15). The essential name of God is YAH, the I AM. The word “God” is a title, not the actual name of God. God has descriptive names that He has been known by, but only one personal essential name {YAH=I AM}, the name which is above every name. God is a title given to those who have power and dominion over something. For example, we as Nazareans stand with the apostle Paul (Acts 24:5), as he writes, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the ‘god’ of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.For we do not preach ourselves, but ChristYAHSHUA the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for YAHSHUA’S sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of YAHSHUA the Christ (2 Corinthians 4:1-6).
Satan usurped power and dominion over the earth, which was given to Adam by the creator God, the source of all human life as God created him to be, which is why man alone is in the image of God, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him...” (Genesis 1:26-27). Due to Adam’s sin, Satan has taken that power and dominion from the fallen son of God Adam (Luke 3:38), and consequently his sons, by usurpation, and now rules as a god over the earth, as he is the cause of all lies, evil, and hate in the world. For indeed, Satan has control over all the kingdoms, governments, and states of the world even to the point where he could offer them up to the Lord YAHSHUA, if YAHSHUA would bow down to Him, for we read, “YAHSHUA said to him, ‘It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then YAHSHUA said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him” (Matthew 4:7-11).
God made it clear that He has only one Personal name {YAH=I AM}, as revealed to Moses, 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 {that is YAH} has sent me to you.’ “Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord 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). YAH is “the name which is above every name.”
God made this very clear, that although He has many descriptive names, He has only one Personal name, the essential name of I AM=YAH. “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I YaHaWaH, I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shaddai (God Almighty), but by My name YaHaWaH I was not known to them” (Exodus 6:2-3). YAH means I AM, and hawah means “to be”, as in ever-present, and the Hebrew word Hawah, has been modernized to Havah (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words #1934, i.e. Yahavah). God’s personal name is made known to us through His Word, rightly divided. The essential name YAH is key to the true name of God and to God our Savior. We say appropriately, “Halleluyah,” meaning, “Praise YAH!” As “hallelujah” is incorrect, as well as “Alleluia”. The false name Jehovah is a hybrid name based on the vowels of another word placed onto the Tetragrammaton {YHWH}, such as the vowels of Eloah, a word in Hebrew that means “God.” YHWH changed by linguistics to JHVH with the vowels of e-o-a causing the euphonious name JeHoVaH, Jehovah. Jehovah in Hebrew based on Je-hovah has a sinister meaning, as hovah means ruin, mischief, and calamity (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words #1942 & #1943). Also used is the word Adonay, with the vowels of a-o-ay causing YaHoWayH, or shortened to YAHWEH. And finally, the word Elohim, as the vowels of e-o-i placed onto the Tetragrammaton to form YeHoViH (see Strong’s # 3069). All the following false names for God are concoctions, Jehovah, Yahweh, and Yehovih. It is a lie perpetrated by the traditions of men that this euphonious name “Jehovah” is the proper name of God. These false names have come to be because of the ignorance of the Medieval Church of the Jewish practice of placing vowels from other Hebrew words for the purpose of reminding the readers in the synagogues not to say the name of God, but to say, “Adonay,” instead.
To all the priests, pastors, teachers, and evangelists, in Christianity, who insist on using false names for God, there is this warning, “‘And now, O priests [pastors, teachers, and evangelists,] this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to My name,” Says the LORD {YAH} of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart’” (Malachi 2:1-2). Why do you Christian religious leaders insist on carrying on with the traditions of men? Are you religious leaders of Christianity any different than modern-day Pharisees? “Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…” (Mark 7:5-8).
How many in Christianity have been taught by their religious leaders that the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament, was originally written without vowels? That when one reads LORD in our English Versions of the Bible, that this means YHWH, called by the Greek word “Tetragrammaton,” which means “the four letters”? That YHWH is the actual name of God, as represented in Hebrew consonants of “Yod, Hey, Waw, Hey,” and so how many know this? That God’s consonantal name appears almost 7,000 times in the Scriptures? Many scholars believe there is uncertainty as to how to pronounce the name of God, and many of them feel we should just say, “LORD.” Isaiah makes it very clear that “YAH” is the name of salvation, as indeed this name is the name which is above every name, given to Moses. The Prophet Isaiah clearly states this essential name, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation’” (Isaiah 12:2 NKJV). We know from Scripture that “YAH” is the essential name of God, as we properly say, “Halleluyah!” This means “Praise YAH!” Many scholars believe YAHWEH is the proper name of God, but many have used the form “Jehovah,” which has been ‘in use’ since the 17th century, and it is widely known, which seems to work for them that support this evil name, albeit, euphonious name, indeed a concoction, that truly means: “ruin, mischief and calamity!” HaYAH means “the YAH,” but due to this erroneous name “Jehovah,” the meaning of HaYAH has been tainted with the same meaning (see Strong’s #1962). This is a travesty! The true meaning of HaYAH is found in Strong’s #1961, which tells us truly, “to exist,” “to become,” HaYAH (The YAH), which represents the Hebrew word Hawah, as found modernized to “Havah.” When it comes to YAH (I AM) there is no uncertainty. English-speaking people have no excuse to use the letter J, as there is no letter representing the sound of J in the Hebrew alphabet, but English has the Y, which represents the Hebrew Yod. The meaning of God’s name YAHAWAH is “I AM Ever-present.”
Many are using the name “Jesus,” which also has only existed since the 17th century in its present form, as the letter J was added to the English alphabet officially in the 17th century. Changing the name from Iesus to Jesus is a notable transformation. Why does it matter to note this linguistic change? The apostle Peter made it emphatically clear, “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). In the 1st century, the Aramaic name Yeshua was relatively common. So which name did the apostle Peter testify to? Was it Jesus, Iesus, or Iesous, which was transliterated from Yeshua? If there is only one name revealed from Heaven, then to use Jesus is to deny the rest, which indeed is problematic based on John 3:18, “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.” This verse disproves those who say, it is about the Person of Christ, not about the name revealed from Heaven. The Savior identified Himself as YAH, the I AM, as He stated to the Jews, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” He just told them, that He is YAH, which is why they picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy! Not only by this statement did He claim to be YAH, He claimed to be their God, the very God of Israel, as the very One, cited in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” In Acts 15:14, “Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.” Not a name based on the linguistics of mankind, but by the very revelation of God! A very specific name indeed!
The Savior received a specific name from His Father. “And now You, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed. “I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your word. Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer going to be in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled” (John 17:5-12 NASB). The Father gave the Son the name YAH {I AM}. Therefore, there is no other name. His true name, and the only name give for our salvation is “YAHSHUA,” which means “I AM Salvation.” YAHSHUA said, “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. YAHSHUA said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:22-24).
YAHSHUA made it very clear, that ever since Satan challenged the Sovereignty of God the Father, the Father placed all things into the hands of His Preeminent Son, for YAHSHUA said, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Mathew 11:27). He also said, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:22-24).
It is written: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). So who was the God who was seen by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and yes by Moses? YAHSHUA is our God, to the glory of His God and Father, and, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:15-20).
What does this mean for us? “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).
So now we know the God of Israel is none other by our Lord and Savior YAHSHUA, who is the I AM, YAH. There Is No Other God, “Thus says the Lord {YAH}, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one’” (Isaiah 44:6-8). Ask yourself, “Who is speaking here?” The apostle Paul has the answer: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). “The whole Bible is about the Son of God, every word spoken was by YAHSHUA, for we read, ‘You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life’” (John 5:39-40).
