The Sacred Names of YAHUVEH and YAHUSHUA
Note that Joshua = Yoshua or Yahushua because there is no "J" sound in
Hebrew. The letter "J" is only about 500 years old and isn't even
found in the original 1611 King James version.
YAHUSHUA the Messiah is not Abba YAHUVEH.
Modern day Christians believe that YAHUSHUA the Messiah pre-existed in some form
or another. Some say he was Melchizedek, some say he was "the captain of
the host of YAHUVEH" (Josh.5:14), some say he was the archangel Michael,
others say he was the "angel of YAHUVEH". Perhaps the most erroneous
view is that YAHUSHUA was the "YAHUVEH" (LORD) of the Old Testament.
This study is written in the hopes that all who read it will finally understand
that YAHUVEH is the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth, and that
YAHUSHUA the Messiah is His Son, as it is written.
Who is YAHUSHUA's Father?
Who does scripture say is the Father? Is.63:16 says, "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O YAHUVEH, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting." YAHUVEH is the Father. Yet, some might claim that this scripture says YAHUVEH is the Father of Israel, not of YAHUSHUA. In that case we need to note two other verses. The first is Heb.1:5; "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" Who said these things? All would agree that YAHUSHUA's Father said them since He is referring to YAHUSHUA as His Son. Heb.1:5 is a direct quote from Ps.2:7; "I will declare the decree: YAHUVEH hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." The first "I" here refers to YAHUSHUA speaking through prophecy in which he declares that YAHUVEH is his Father!
We also previously saw that YAHUSHUA said, "My Father is greater than I." In reality he was also saying, "YAHUVEH is greater than I", thereby teaching us that he is not YAHUVEH. Anyone who believes YAHUSHUA is YAHUVEH must also believe YAHUSHUA is the Heavenly Father. That is even more absurd and more difficult to prove in the light of scripture.
The Father's Name
In Exodus 23:13 we are commanded not to mention the names of other gods; however, because of what the modern English translators have done with our Bibles, it is the name of our God that is seldom, if ever, mentioned by the majority of our people. The King James Version of the Holy Bible renders the Third Commandment as follows:Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7) *
However, that is not how God's Holy Spirit intended for it to be written. The
inspired Third Commandment is as follows:
Thou shalt not take the name of YAHUVEH in vain; for YAHUVEH will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Making Vain the Name
The English translators on their own volition replaced God's name with something entirely different. What arrogance! What God inspired, no human translator has the right to change or remove, no matter how good the excuse sounds. King Solomon declared:
"... what is his [God's] name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure... Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." (Proverbs 30:4-6)
Yet that is exactly what most English translators did. They took away and added
to God's Word by replacing His personal name YAHUVEH with the capital letters
LORD and GOD or with the hybrid word Jehovah.
In perverting the text, the English translators actually broke the Third
Commandment since they made the name vain, that is, of none effect The word
vain, as found in the Third Commandment, is translated from the Hebrew word shav
(Strong's #7723). William Gesenius defines it in part as "emptiness,
nothingness, vanity ... worthlessness."(2) It is the same word used by
Moses in the Ninth Commandment translated false:
Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
(Deuteronomy 5:20)
In other words, we are not to use YAHUVEH's name falsely or bear false witness to it
by replacing it with misleading titles and uninspired substitutions.
It has been declared that the Third Commandment has nothing to do with the
literal name of YAHUVEH, but rather with the authority of His name. Authority is
intrinsic to the Third Commandment; however, it remains impossible to exclude
God's personal name from this commandment. For example, a Roman soldier's
authority was in the name of Caesar, however, had he presented himself in the
name of Nebuchadnezzar, his authority would have been nullified.
Consider the following emphasis that YAHUVEH Himself put on His name:
And YAHUVEH said more over unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, YAHUVEH God of your fathers ... hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (Exodus 3:15)
Consequently, we have been charged to remember, to commemorate and to memorialize His name. Yet, most modern translators have done just the opposite and have nearly wiped YAH's sacred name from the memory of HIS people.
Empty Excuses
After admitting that
"While it is almost if not quite certain that the Name was originally pronounced 'YAHUVEH,'"the translators of the Revised Standard Version provide the following excuse for the elimination of YAHUVEH's personal name from the Scriptures:
For two reasons the [Revised Standard Version] Committee has returned to the more familiar usage [of substituting YAHUVEH with either the LORD or GOD] of the King James Version: (1) the word 'Jehovah' does not accurately represent any form of the name ever used in Hebrew; and (2) the use of any proper name for the one and only God ... was discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era and is entirely inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church. (3)
What audacity! What gives any man or any group of men the right to overrule YAHUVEH? YAHUVEH alone knows best what is and what is not appropriate for the Christian Church.
The editorial board of the New American Standard Bible made the following admission:
But what the Jews pronounce, or do not pronounce, has nothing to do (or should have nothing to do) with what YAHUVEH inspired in His Word.This name [YAHUVEH] has not been pronounced by the Jews.... Therefore, it has been consistently translated LORD. (4)
The Smith and Goodspeed translation is probably the most frank:
In this translation we have followed the orthodox Jewish tradition and substituted "the LORD" for the name "YAHUVEH" and the phrase "the Lord GOD" for the phrase "the Lord YAHUVEH." (5)
In light of Matthew 15:3, there is no excuse for what the English translators did:But he [YAHUSHUA] answered and said unto them, Why do ye [Jews] also transgress the commandment of YAHUVEH by your tradition?
The Savior's Name
Following are seven reasons for using the Hebrew name YAHUSHUA instead of the English name Jesus:The Memorial Name
God chose YAHUVEH or its shortened form Yah to be His memorial name to all generations - Exodus 3:15. Only the name YAHUSHUA memorializes that name.The Name Above All Names
The Son's name is the name above all names - Ephesians 1:20-21; Philippians 2:9. But what name specifically is above all other names?... Stand up and bless YAHUVEH your God for ever and ever: and blessed be Thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou, even thou, are YAHUVEH alone.... (Nehemiah 9:5-6)Since the name above all names is YAHUVEH, only YAHUSHUA can be the Savior's name.
A More Excellent Name
The Son inherited a more excellent name - Hebrews 1:4. From where did the Son inherit His name? From the Father, of course. Consequently, He could only inherit from the Father what the Father Himself possessed. Did the Father possess the name Jesus or YAH? The answer seems quite apparent especially when one keeps in mind that the Father is addressed by the abbreviated name YAH forty-nine times in the Old Testament (Psalm 68:4; etc.), which can only be found in the Hebrew name YAHUSHUA.The Son to Come in the Name of YAHUVEH
Our Savior manifested or made known, the Father's name while here on earth - John 17:6, 26. In only three New Testament passages do we find the Son actually introducing Himself. The first time is found in the account of the Apostle Paul's conversion in Acts 9. The second and third times are found where Paul was recounting the same event in Acts 22 and 26. One of those accounts informs us in what language the Savior manifested His name to Paul:... I [Paul] heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue.... And I [Paul] said, Who are thou, Lord? And He said, I am YAHUSHUA.... (Acts 26:14-15)Had the Savior used the English name Jesus, He would not have been manifesting the Father's name.
Since the family name YAH is found in both the Father's and the Son's name, YAHUSHUA could appropriately say:
"I am come in My Father's name...." (John 5:43)In John 12:12-13, certain Jerusalem residents proclaimed:
Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the LORD.This is a quotation from Psalm 118:26 in which the tetragrammaton (the Hebrew letters YHWH) was substituted with the uninspired words "the LORD." In other words, in fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy, those Israelites were proclaiming the Messiah as having come in the name of YAHUVEH. Only in the name of YAHUSHUA could it be said that the Savior came in the name of YAHUVEH.
The Son's Name Was To Mean "YAHUVEH Saves"
When Mary was pregnant with the Son of YAHUVEH, Joseph was told to give her offspring a name that meant:"He [YAHUVEH] shall save his people." (Matthew 1:21)The English name Jesus does not fulfill that (as it has no meaning in any language, being a Greek/Latin hybrid); however, that is precisely what YAHUSHUA means. YAHUSHUA in Strong's Concordance is #3091 which is defined as coming from #3068 - YAHUVEH, and from #3467 - yasha, which means "to save.(6) " Together YAHUVEH and yasha, or YAHUSHUA, means YAHUVEH saves.
New Testament Baptism was to be in The Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. From the evidence provided in the book of Acts, we know that the disciples did not baptize using the formula "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). Rather they baptized in one specific name - Acts 2:38, etc., a name that accurately represented all three. What name fulfills the conditions of the Great Commission? What choices do we have for the Father's name? There are no Greek or English equivalents for the Father's name, LORD and GOD are not names but are titles and Jehovah is a 16th century hybrid corruption. On the other hand, it is known that God's personal name is YAHUVEH - shortened to YAH forty-nine times in the Old Testament.
What choices do we have for the Son's name? Given the options of Iesous (Greek), Jesus (English) or YAHUSHUA (Hebrew), which of the three can also be used for the Father and the Holy Spirit? Only YAHUSHUA.
The Apostle Paul quoting Joel 2:32 (properly translated) declared:
...whosoever shall call upon the name of YAHUVEH shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)How does one call upon the name of YAHUVEH? In only one place in the New Testament are we told how this is accomplished:
[Ananias speaking to Paul] And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16)Just three days prior, the Savior had manifested His name to the Apostle Paul in Hebrew as YAHUSHUA. So what name do you suppose Paul was immersed in or that he called upon in fulfillment of Joel 2:32 and Romans 10:13? The name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! The name YAHUSHUA!
The Deity of YAHUSHUA
Lastly, and most importantly, the Hebrew pronunciation of our Savior's name should be used since the deity of YAHUSHUA is proven therein. If the Hebrew names had been left intact in the Scriptures, it would be much more difficult, if not impossible, for a person to be persuaded against the deity of YAHUSHUA the MESSIAH.Consider the Old Testament prophecies regarding YAHUVEH that were attributed to YAHUSHUA. For example, whose way was John the Baptist to prepare? Who was to be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver? Whose side was to be pierced? Who was the stone that the builders rejected, and who was to become the chief corner stone? If your answer to these questions is Jesus, you had better look at those prophecies again! In those passages **, YAHUVEH was removed and replaced with the words "the LORD." Restore God's personal name YAHUVEH and it becomes immediately apparent that those prophecies were about YAHUVEH fulfilled in YAHUSHUA.
Not only that, but when we use the Hebrew name of our Savior, it clearly describes not simply what some man is doing or what some prophet is doing or even what another god is doing. It describes what the GOD of gods, the great "I AM", what YAHUVEH is doing! Our Savior was named in Hebrew YAHUSHUA because it means YAHUVEH saves. Additionally, our Savior was named in Hebrew Immanuel, meaning YAH with us, which testifies to the same.
THESE SEVEN REASONS (AND MORE ***) REVEAL THAT THE HEBREW NAMES YAHUVEH AND YAHUSHUA SHOULD BE OUR PREFERRED CHOICE.