Ha Shem (Ancient Hebrew meaning - The Name)

"And for this reason I have raised you up, (Pharaoh) in order to show you My power, and in order to declare My Name in all the earth." (Exodus 9:16)

God knows that I am somewhat reluctant to introduce this series of articles on His authentic Name. The only reason why I am doing so is because I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit has instructed me to. Since becoming a regular contributor on Faithmania, I have been satisfied to use the Father’s Name – YAHWEH, and the Son’s Name – Yahshua in all of my articles. Because this is unusual in Christian writing I have always placed the English name – Jesus – in brackets whenever I had occasion to use the Name – Yahshua.

As a result of this I have received several comments, none of them negative. One reader out of curiosity e-mailed me to ask whether I was a Jewish Christian, as it was unusual for gentile believers to refer to the Messiah by His Hebrew name. It is amazing that Messianic Jews have an organization called; “Jews for Jesus”, but Christianity does not have an organization called; “Christians for Yahshua.” Sometimes I wonder whether the reason why it is so difficult to evangelize Jews is because Christianity has adopted a Greek/Latin Hybrid name for the Messiah which does not even have the meaning; “Savior.”

Shortly after His NAME and its significance in our Christian walk became a revelation to me, the Lord impressed upon me that He expected me to be obedient to the truth I was receiving. He told me that I was to start using His real Name in all my preaching, teaching and writing. This was not something I was prepared to do, and as a result I lay awake many nights wrestling with God over this matter.

One of my squabbles with Yahshua went something like this;

“Lord, the name Jesus is precious to me.”
“I know that Johann.”
“But Lord, I was saved in the name of Jesus.”
“Yes Johann, I know that.”
“But You don’t understand Lord. Many miracles have happened in my life because of the name Jesus.”
“Johann, I know that as well.”
“But Lord, what will people think of me.”
“JOHANN, are you ashamed of My Name?”
“No Lord but…….”
“JOHANN ! I am not ashamed of your name.”

Not once in that short conversation did I use His real Name, but He lovingly used mine five times. Forgive me Yahshua for unthinkingly grieving You so often.

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven." (Mat.10:32 & 33)

Is it possible to confess someone before men without using their name? Can a person be properly identified without mentioning their name? With shock I realized that Yahshua was not ashamed of my name. Yet I was ashamed of His real Name. My Savior had respect for my name, and I was not even willing to respectfully use His own Name with reverence and love, before others.

Needless to say, I repented and told my Lord that I was willing to start using His real Name – the Name above all names, no matter what the consequences to me. So I took the plunge and immediately started using the authentic Hebrew Names of the Father and the Son whenever I taught from the Scriptures. Because this was obviously new to the Church in general, I had to explain myself by teaching on the Name itself. It has not been an easy road. Some people receive the revelation with gladness and run with it, while others absolutely refuse to even listen and would refer to; “That name business” with disdain. Sadly, the latter group is the majority.

I have sought the council of other men of God regarding this teaching. One of them - Henry Jackson, (Author and Bible Teacher) whom I hold in high esteem had this to say;

“Firstly, then, the teaching of the NAME. I have given considerable thought to this, though admittedly I have not yet studied it to very great depth. I am in the process of marking every occurrence of the NAME or reference to it in my Bible. In my spirit I have no doubt whatsoever that the teaching is absolutely sound. It does not contradict any other principle or doctrine of the Scripture - rather it enhances our understanding of God. Consequently I am in total agreement with the teaching, and desire to learn and understand more.

"But, secondly, the introduction of this doctrine into a Christian church, which is so strongly entrenched in a different train of thought, poses a major problem. And it is this problem which I want to address. I do not really have the full answers to this - I believe that only God can answer this problem. In fact it is God’s problem, not ours, and I am so glad about that. I therefore rest in Him.”

“The mark of a doctrine which is being introduced by the Holy Spirit, is that He introduces it all over the world, and you cannot stop it. From what I see I believe this doctrine of the NAME (If I may call it that) carries that mark.”

Another Christian leader in whose church this teaching was taking hold, made the following statement during the Sunday morning service;

“There is a teaching going around about the Name of God. I just want to say that my Bible says that God’s Name is ‘Father’ and His Son’s Name is ‘Jesus Christ.’ As far as I am concerned this subject is now closed, and I don’t want to hear any more feedback in this regard”.

So it seems as though the NAME is dividing the Christian church into two distinct camps. The question is; Is this a truth which is being restored to the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, or is it just a pet doctrine a few have gotten hold of? I personally have no doubt that God is bringing back the knowledge of His Name throughout the whole world, in these last days.

If that is the case, then there is another question which needs to be seriously considered. If this important truth has been revealed to us, are we to just sit back and leave Him to it? Or are we responsible to preach the Word – in season, out of season? – 2 Tim.4:2 (See the chapter entitled; Is the Word of God and His Name Synonymous?) Must we withhold the truth for the sake of unity? I am so glad that Martin Luther did not suppress the revelation he had of Justification by faith, for the sake of unity.

As believers we are exhorted to; "Prove (examine) all things, and to hold fast to that which is good." (1 Thes.5:21) Therefore as leaders I believe it is our responsibility to closely investigate this doctrine of which the Word of God has so much to say. Having personally made a relatively deep study of this subject, I would go so far as to say that The NAME is the central theme of Scripture. There are more specific references to the Name in the Bible than there are to other great doctrines such as The Blood, grace, faith and love. Yet this principle doctrine has not only been greatly neglected by the Church, but it is also the one theme, which seems to provoke extreme resistance within the body of Christ. Why? Why should God’s real Name have this effect amongst His own people?

In the text quoted above, we are told to hold fast to that which is good. Well, what is good? "A good name is better than precious ointment." (Eccl.7:1) Wouldn’t you agree that the best Name in existence – the Name which not only contains the most good, but is also everything that is good, is the Personal Name of the One True God? YAHWEH.

I conclude this introduction with the following thoughts. God has only one Memorial Name. Words such as Yireh, (Jireh) Rapha, Shalom, El Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai etc. are not His names as such. They are attributes of or titles pertaining to His Name and therefore to Him. I am a father, husband, writer, teacher, mister etc., but none of these are my names. I have only one name which identifies me and which is used on all legal documents pertaining to me. (To understand the importance of a name as regards identification, see my article entitled; How Important is a Name after all?)

Isaiah says; And His Name (singular) shall be called: Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Is.9:6) Clearly the Word is teaching that within His Name YAHWEH, each one of those attributes is hidden. His Name (YAHWEH) shall be called, or contain all these wonderful characteristics. ‘Wonderful’ is not His name, but His Name YAHWEH is wonderful. ‘The Mighty God’ is not His Name, but YAHWEH is the Mighty God.

Our Saviour Yahshua is called Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” (Is.7:14) The Name – Yahshua – literally means; “YAH is our Salvation”, in other words YAHWEH is with us in the Person of Yahshua. Emmanuel, precious attribute and description of His Name that it is, is not the Messiah’s personal Name.