The Name of God Muted (Genesis 2:4-5; Exodus 20:7; Matthew 13:31; Luke 13:18-19; Matthew 26:64)

GENESIS 2:4-5 says, "These (are) the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and (there was) not a man to till the ground".

LORD

This is the first instance of the Hebrew word commonly translated into most English Bibles with the upper case letters "LORD". It is unfortunate that there are so many words, both Greek and Hebrew, that are rendered by a supposed English equivalent, that often falls far short of disclosing the true meaning of the original, and is often, in many cases, a poor substitute for what was intended. This word is known by Biblical scholars as the "tetra grammaton". It is so named, because it is four Hebrew letters, who apparently, over time, have lost their vowel sounds, to leave it somewhat mysteriously incomplete.

YHWH

Written in the English as "YHWH', this word is described as the sacred name of "God". Used over 6800 times in the OT scriptures, it is the official title of God. Due to a misinterpretation of Exodus 20:7, it was considered to be unutterable.

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain".

DO NOT USE

There are varying translations of this passage:

"You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is , lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]..." - Amplified

"You shall not utter the name of Yahweh your God to misuse it..." - Jerusalem Bible

"You must not invoke the name of the LORD your God to evil intent..." - An American Translation

"You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your God..." - Torah

The main point, is that through a misunderstanding of the meaning of the passage, "YHWH" was deemed, by Jewry, and Rabbinic interpretation, to be, as indicated by the Jerusalem Bible translation, "unutterable"; or as the Amplified states, not to be "used" or "repeated".

UTTERING THE NAME

It is extremely ironic, that the name of God, who desires our fellowship and praise, and who passionately placed a plan in place for our salvation and deliverance, saying, "whosoever shall call on the name of YHWH, shall be delivered", that His very name, through the misinterpretation and application of scripture, the devil, in the lives of millions, over the centuries, restricted the very utterance of that name, upon which we are to call, thus preventing the salvation and deliverance of people.

THE DEVIL

[This may be a very simplistic view point, but it is Biblical, that anything that takes away from your life; anything that subtracts; anything that is a put down, and not a pick up; anything that defaces or disparages God our Father, or His creation; anything that is not causing increase; multiplication; expansion; and development, in your life....anything that is not good, IS NOT GOD...it has its source in the devil].

SUBSTITUTES

To compensate for the inability to utter the name, substitutes were provided, both literary and in utterance, such as:

(Adonai), meaning "lord" or "master"

(Hashem), meaning, "the name"

(Shamayim), meaning "heaven", the dwelling of God, and therefore referencing God

(Hagibar), meaning "power", again, indirectly identifying God.

THE NAME

To this day, the Jewish use of the OT scriptures, is marred by the limiting of the use of the proper name of God, relegated to some lesser reference, identifying His person. So powerful was this entrenched thought, in historical Israel, that even in the NT we find its use. Matthew, when addressing a Jewish audience, in recording Jesus' words, refers to the "kingdom of heaven" (Matt.13:31), as a grain of mustard seed, knowing his Jewish recipients would automatically interpret "kingdom of heaven" as "God". Yet Luke, when referencing the same utterance by Jesus, recorded for a non-Jewish audience, referred to "the kingdom of God", as a grain of mustard seed (Lk.13:18-19), he being very clear and concise for his intended readers. Even the reference of Jesus answering Caiaphas, targeting Jewish readers, says, "...hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matt.26:64). Both "heaven" and "power" could be a reference to God, but "power" is most assuredly.

God's name is not to be muted, His name is to be pronounced; His name is to be spoken; His name is to be called upon; His name is to be proclaimed; His name is Jesus!

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.