THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SACRED NAME IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

יהוה is the Hebrew form of the Name of the Creator. 
According to most scholars, the most probable pronunciation of this Name is Yahweh.
This site uses ‘the Eternal’ when referring to יהוה

Name of  יהוה Pictographic Hebrew

  Name of  יהוה in Paleo Hebrew ca. 1450 BCE
Name of  יהוה  in Contemporary Hebrew Script

 

What do the Scriptures say about the Name of its Author? Is that Name important? Is it for the whole world or just for the Jews? Does it make any difference to know and use the Creator’s name?

There can be different opinions about these questions. But don’t settle for opinions; look at what the Scriptures themselves say about all this. The following are quotes from The Scriptures Version (ISR) .

The Scriptures Emphasise on the Sacred Name

Isaiah 42:8
  8 “I am יהוה, that is My Name, and My esteem {glory} I do not give to another…
Psalms 83:18
  8 And let them know that You, Whose Name is יהוה, You alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Isaiah 52:6
6  “Therefore My people shall know My Name…
Malachi 1:6
6  “A son esteems his father, and a servant his master. And if I am the Father, where is My esteem? And if I am a Master, where is My fear? said יהוה of hosts to you priests who despise My Name. But you asked, ‘In what way have we despised Your Name?’
Matthew 6:9
 9 This, then, is the way you should pray: ‘Our Father who is in the heavens, let Your Name be set-apart {Holy}
John 17: 4, 6, 11, 12, 26.
4 “I have esteemed You on the earth…
6 “I have revealed Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world.
11 Set-apart Father, guard them in Your Name which You have given Me
12 “When I was with them in the world, I was guarding them in Your Name
26 “And I have made Your Name known to them, and shall make it know

The Sacred Name is for the Whole World

Exodus 9:16
  16  “And for this reason, I have raised you up, in order to show you My power, and in order to declare My Name in all the earth.
Exodus 20:24
  24 In every place where I cause My Name to be remembered, I shall come to you and bless you.
1 Kings 8:43
  43 hear in the heavens Your dwelling place… o that all peoples of the earth know Your Name and fear You...and know that this House which I have built is called by Your Name.
Malachi 1:11, 14
 11 “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My Name is great among nations. And in every place incense is presented to My Name and a clean offering.
 14 My Name is feared among nations.

Respect and Use of the Sacred Name

Deuteronomy 32:3
  3 “For I proclaim the Name of יהוה, Ascribe greatness to our Elohim.
Psalms 96:8
 8  Ascribe to יהוה the esteem {glory} of His Name
Psalms 34:3
  3 Oh, make יהוה great with me, And let us exalt His Name together.
Psalms 61:8
  8  So I sing praise to Your Name forever
Psalms 92:1
  1 It is good to give thanks to יהוה, And to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High
Psalms 103:2
  2 Bless יהוה, O my being, And do not forget all His dealings
Psalms 115:1
  1 Not to us, O יהוה, not to us, But to Your Name give esteem
Psalms 116:13, 17
  13 I lift up the cup of deliverance And call upon the Name of יהוה
17 I bring You a slaughtering of thanksgiving And call upon the Name of יהוה.
Hebrews 13:15
 15  Through Him then, let us continually offer up a slaughter offering of praise to Elohim, that is, the fruit of our lips¹, giving thanks to His Name.
¹Or "Bulls of our lips"- bulls, referring to offerings, prayers... {See Hosea 14:2}

The Name Represents the Person

Psalm 20:1
1 The Name of the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ does set you on high!
Psalms 20:5
  5 And in the Name of our Elohim, we set up a banner!
Revelation 3:12
  12 “He who overcomes… I shall write on him the Name of My Elohim…My renewed Name.
Revelation 14:1
 1 And I looked and saw a Lamb standing on Mount Tsiyon, and with Him, one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s Name* written upon their foreheads.
{*Some texts read: having His Name and His Fathers Name}
Revelation 22:4
4  And they shall see His face, and His Name shall be upon their foreheads.

Blessings for Calling on the Sacred Name

Psalms 91:15
  15 “When he calls on Me, I answer him; I am with him in distress; I deliver him and esteem {honour} him.
Psalms 23:3
  3 He leads me in paths of righteousness For His Name’s sake.
Psalms 33:21
  21 For our heart does rejoice in Him, For we have put our trust in His set-apart Name.
Proverbs 18:10
  10 The Name of יהוה is a strong tower; The righteous run into it and are safe.
Isaiah 56:6-7
 6  “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to יהוה, to serve Him, and to love the Name of יהוה, to be His servants, all who guard the Sabbath, and not profane it, and hold fast to My covenant –
 7 them I shall bring to My set-apart mountain, and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their slaughterings are accepted on My altar, for My house is called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
Malachi 3:16
 16  Then shall those who fear יהוה speak to one another, and יהוה listen and hear, and a book of remembrance be written before Him, of those who fear יהוה, and those who think upon His Name.
Malachi 4:2
  2 “But to you who fear My Name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.
Joel 2:32
 32  “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Name of יהוה shall be delivered*
*{Acts2:21, Romans 10:13}

Curses for Forgetting the Sacred name

Psalms 44:20-21
 20  If we have forgotten the Name of our Elohim Or stretched out our hands to a foreign mighty one,
  21 Would Elohim not search this out?
Jeremiah 23:13, 27, 32
 13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Shomeron {Samaria}: they prophesied by  Ba’al  and led My people Yisra’el astray.
 27 who try to make My people forget My Name by their dreams which everyone relates to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot My Name for Ba’al .
  32 “See, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares יהוה, “and relate them, and lead My people astray by their falsehoods and by their reckless boasting. But I Myself did not send them nor have I commanded them. And they do not profit this people at all,” declares יהוה.
Malachi 2:1-2
1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you.
2 “If you do not hear, and if you do not take it to heart, to give esteem {honour} to My Name,” said יהוה of hosts, “I shall send a curse upon you, and I shall curse your blessings. And indeed, I have cursed them, because you do not take it to heart.
Malachi 2:7-8
  7 “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and they seek the Torah from his mouth, for he is the messenger of יהוה of hosts.
8 “But you, you have turned from the way, you have caused many to stumble in the Torah. You have corrupted the covenant of Lewi,” said יהוה of hosts.

It Requires a Bold Decision

1 Kings 18:21
  21  And Eliyahu came to all the people, and said, “How long would you keep hopping between two opinions? If יהוה is Elohim, follow Him; and if Baʽal, follow him.
Joshua 24:15
 15  “And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve יהוה, choose for yourselves this day whom you are going to serve, whether the mighty ones which your fathers served that were beyond the River or the mighty ones of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. BUT I AND MY HOUSE, WE SERVE יהוה.”    

Yosef Alvarez – Escuela Hebraica
www.sendaantigua.net
hebraica@gmail.com

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture was taken from The Scriptures,
Copyright by Institute for Scripture Research.
Used by permission.

NAZARENE NOTES