Good Afternoon!

I am currently enjoying a little bit freer movement of my fingers as I type, for I popped the poison ivy blisters between them at lunch time. Yippee! I’ve also my cup o’ joe (blended with chicory- given to me by a friend) handy… so we’re off to learn more about God through the means of His names in the Bible.

So far we’ve looked at “EL”, “ELOHIM”, “EL SHADDAI” and “ADONAI”.

Today we look at: YHWH, God’s personal name for Himself!

The Jews viewed this word as so sacred, they would not pronounce it. Us English speaking folk pronounce “YHWH” as YaHWeH or Yahweh. There is also JeHoVaH (JHVH) or Jehovah. Both Yahweh and Jehovah come from Y/J H W/V H.

Our Bibles usually translate YHWH into LORD. The Hebrew letters come from the verb “to be”. This covenant name of God occurs close to 7000 times in the OT. I think one of the most memorable scriptures where this name occurs is at the Burning Bush…

Exodus 3:13-14

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, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Wow! “I AM”! Not “I WAS” or “I WILL BE”, but “I AM”! Current, existing One, no beginning and no end… i.e. Eternal! When you see “LORD God” in your Bible, it is usually YHWH Elohim in the Hebrew.

Okay, so YHWH/ JHVH/ Yahweh/ Jehovah is God’s personal name. It is nice to know our Eternal God is a personable God too. There’s no questioning His absolute being!

   1. How are you getting along with YHWH lately?
   2. Is Yahweh’s eternality a cause for joy or fear for you?
   3. Why does Jehovah stoop sometimes to dialogue with man (ex. Moses)?

Peace,
Jim