What is the True Name of God the Creator?
This is by far the most frequently asked and debated question of all times. However the answer is clearly documented in the scriptures. What name did the Creator reveal to Moses? For the record, Moses was not the first to know the name of the creator neither was he the last. But being a restorer of antiquity to the children of Israel he preserved it and taught it to the generations of Israelites that came out of Egypt. The True name of the Most High was not a secret or debate in the earth until the Greek and English translations of the scriptures began to come about, and you will learn why.
Exodus 8:1 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.”
While Israel was in Egypt they were not taught to serve the Creator correctly according to his law as their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did. But learned to serve the gods of the other nations.
Deuteronomy 32:16-18 “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. v17. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. v18. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.”
As Moses began to know and serve the True creator, he had to understand to make a distinction between the True creator and the gods (idols) that the nations served and worshipped in Egypt and the earth. This is done by a NAME. We may all be men in the world but our personal name gives us our identity that separates us by character. Even children in one household each have a name that sets them apart one from the other. For example, Jacob had twelve sons. If he were to say among his whole family, “son go and get your brother!” Which son would receive this instruction? However if he were to say “My son Judah, go and get your brother Benjamin!” It is perfectly clear to everyone what must be done and a clear distinction is made one from the other. So is it with the Creator. Another example, If you were to go into the country of Arabia and say “all praises to God” in the English or Arabic language, the inhabitants of that land will assume you are giving honor to the god of Islam known as allah. A distinction must be made. This is why the Creator explained this to Moses on two occasions before he went to the children of Israel so there will be no confusion as to what god will deliver them because there were many gods in Egypt that the people worshipped.
NAME OF THE CREATOR
Exodus 6:3 “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”
The Creator reiterates to Moses that his NAME is Jehovah. The Israelites spoke Hebrew and Jehovah is an English form or transliterated form of the Hebrew name YHWH (pronounced Yah-ha-wah, some pronounce Yahweh). This is a fact seeing that there is no letter J, E, O, V, or U in the Hebrew language. It would be written in the hebrew language like this. Hebrew is read and written from right to left.
Words like god and lord are simply general titles and not names that identify one from the other. These words were placed in the Greek and English translations of the scriptures because the True name of the Creator cannot be translated into another language but only transliterated.
Definition of transliterate form the Oxford English Dictionary
Transliterate |transˈlitəˌrāt, tranz-|verb – write or print (a letter or word) using the closest corresponding letters of a different alphabet or language: names from one language are often transliterated into another.
Here is the transliterated version of the Creator’s name.
The translators felt transliterating the True name of God into another language would mean corrupting the name, so they used words like Lord (Adown) and God (elohim) in place of the true name during the translation process. To help the reader make a distinction between when the creator is mentioned as opposed to other gods mentioned in the scriptures, capitol letters were used for God and Lord where the true name YHWH is used in the original language. When you read in the English translations and see the word “Lord” The name YHWH was there in the Hebrew texts. If you examine the name of some biblical people and the meaning of their names you will see the name YHWH was widely known among the Israelites. The letters “YHWH” known as the tetragrammaton, is a transliteration of the four HEBREW letters or characters that make up the name of the Creator. A Bible Concordance or hebrew lexicon is a helpful and basic tool to find biblical words and their meanings in the original language that they were translated from. The following information comes from the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance which is a basic and popular concordance.
In the Hebrew language Exodus 6:3 is posed as a question to Moses rather than a statement because Abraham Isaac and Jacob knew the name of the Creator YHWH. It would actually read in this fashion.
Exodus 6:3 “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them?”
When you do not understanding phonics and sentence structure of languages in translation, many assume this was a statement made to say the true name of the Creator was not known until the time of Moses. The scriptures prove that the forefathers knew the name YHWH before it was revealed to Moses.
Genesis 12:8 “And he (Abraham) removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.”
What name did he call?
Genesis 22:14 “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: (YHWH will see) as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”
Genesis 29:35 “And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.”
The Hebrew name for Judah is pronounced Yahawadah Which means “YHWH is praised” Proving that Jacob also knew the creator’s name is YHWH. All throughout history the name YHWH is known by the Israelites.
Psalms 83:18 “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH (YHWH), art the most high over all the earth.”
Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”
Isaiah 26:4 “Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”
Psalms 68:4 “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.”
Jah is Yah which is a shortened form of the name YHWH. Bear in mind that the letter J is not in the hebrew alphabet and was not installed into the English language until the late 1500s. The letter J replaces the “Y” sound in English translations.
Israelites were given names according to prophecies or events that occurred at the time the child was named. We see that the name YHWH was known among the Israelites as the name of the creator for many generations. Lets examine other scriptures in history. Look at the name of the prophet Elijah
1 Kings 17:24 “And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD (YHWH) in thy mouth is truth.”
Jonathan (YHWH gives)
King Jehoiachin (YHWH will establish)
King Jehoshaphat (YHWH judges)
Even the nations knew the name of YHWH because Israel was in captivity among them. They have profaned his name and have caused Israel to associate the name YHWH with idols and images. For example the Babylonian Talmud uses the name YHWH in association with evil customs like Kabbalah and witchcraft.
Ezekiel 39:7 “So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”
Jeremiah. 34:16 “But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.”
Psalms 74:10 “O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?”
Isaiah 52:5 “Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.”
Here is archeological proof that the name YHWH is the what the Israelites called the Creator. This is an ancient tablet dated about the 8th century BC called the Mesha Stele. It documents a historical account of the Moabite King Mesha coming up against the “House of Israel” to take the “vessels of YHWH”.
More archeological proof of the name of YHWH
The name YHWH found in the early greek translation of the scriptures called the Septuagint or LXX (2nd century BC).
It is clear that the name YHWH is not a secret in the world. There is no debate in this area among LEARNED men, only a difference in the matter of pronunciation.
AHAYAH?
There are some Israelites that profess that the name of the creator is Ahayah. This comes from a lack of understanding in Exodus 3:14.
Ex. 3:13 “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? v14. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
In Exodus Chapter 3 The creator YHWH has instructed Moses to go and speak to the children of Israel on his behalf regarding instructions for their deliverance from Egypt. Moses was doubtful about his abilities to lead such a great people so he began to require reassurance. Moses asked YHWH, “If the children of Israel ask me what God’s name is what shall I say?” The scriptures given earlier clearly show that The Israelite forefathers knew the name YHWH. What Moses was actually concerned with was, how would the children of Israel really believe that YHWH spoke to him seeing Moses was known as an Egyptian and YHWH does not seek prophets from among the other nations (Psalms 147:19-20) This is the reason YHWH had Moses’s hand turn leprous, as a sign for him to know that YHWH has all power and will be with Moses.
Exodus 4:6 “And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.”
Moses still needed more confidence
Exodus 4:10 “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. v11. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? v12. Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”
In Exodus 3:14 YHWH replies to Moses “I am that I am” This is translated as “ahayah ashar ahayah” which means “I exist that I exist” This phrase would be properly understood to say “I exist and cause ALL to exist”. This was to teach Moses that he had nothing to fear if YHWH was with him (Rom 8:31). “He that causes all to exist” is sending Moses to the children of Israel. However this IS NOT the Creator’s name. The name of YHWH is given in verse 15
Ex. 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
As mentioned earlier, the word Lord replaced the name YHWH during the translation process. And as the scriptures state, YHWH is his name unto all generations as was proven all throughout the scriptures from the time of Adam to the the time of Christ. Ahayah comes from the word “hayah” and is a verb in the hebrew language that means to “be or to exist”. A-Hayah means “I will be, I am, I exist” This verb is found many times in the hebrew scriptures and never once is it used as a name for the creator or anyone else.
The word hayah used in Exodus 3:14 is the same word used in Genesis 1:2 meaning “to be” or “was” (And the earth existed without form, and void;…)
For more examples of “hayah” used as a verb and never a name, use this link
LORD AND BAAL
Some say by using words like YHWH and Lord you are calling on BAAL the Canaanite god. It should be obvious that this is not true. When the Israelites transgressed the laws of YHWH they began to serve the gods of the nations. In particular the god Baal which means “lord” or “ruler”. The Jews that were carried away by idolatry believed that the image of Baal was the god their forefathers worshipped called YHWH the creator of the earth. This is the same today with those that believe Jesus Christ is the white image (Caesare Borgia) that is set up in the land. The prophet Elijah teaches the Israelites the difference.
1 Kings 18:21 “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”
Elijah is straightforward with showing that the Lord (YHWH) and Baal are not the same. But insist that Israel makes a choice and serve the god that they believe in, but again they are not one in the same. There is a false god in the scriptures called “Molech”(Lev 18:21) which means “king” (malak). Would it then be evil to refer to YHWH as the king or ruler of Israel?
Isaiah 43:15 “I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.”
Those that believe that Ahayah is the name of the creator do so because they say the name YHWH comes from a word “hawah” which means ruin or calamity. Examine the attributes and power of the Creator.
Isaiah 45:7 “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
Amos 3:6 “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?”
Jeremiah 49:32 “And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.”
YHWH made it a point to make sure his name was placed in many places within the scriptures so the children of Israel would be educated of this knowledge. Our fathers used other titles to refer to the creator but they definitely knew his revealed name.
Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Psalms 34:3 “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.”
Isaiah 12:4 “And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.“
-By Raim
