Did you know that God’s Name has been left out thousands of times in most Bibles?
It’s true. In nearly every case where it says “the LORD,” that is where the Name of God is supposed to be. When an “Old Testament” section verse ends with “I am the LORD,” it was supposed to end with the name, possibly as a reminder. The name’s not “Jehovah,” either; that came much later, in English. There was no “J” before the 1400s, and even then, it was a substitute for an “i.” The name of God, in a Transliterated from Hebrew way, is “YHWH.” Some type it as “Yahweh,” though I’m not certain how one is to pronounce it. Interestingly though, it may sound like breathing in and out.
Considering that Exodus 3:15 has God saying
This is my name FOR ALL GENERATIONS/FOREVER, it sounds already like omitting the name is a catastrophic idea.
(Hebrew’s read from right to left.)
Names in Hebrew
always meant something. It’s not like today where someone just likes the sound of a name, so they name their kid; names in Ancient Hebrew implied character and fame and report. With that in mind, the Name “YHWH,” in Hebrew, (as far as I’m aware) implies one who exists and breathes and lives. Exodus 3:14 translates God’s name as “I am that I am.” By considering other words that mean the same thing (and this is not wrong,) that could be saying “I Be that I Be” owhich implies “Being,” so one could say “I Exist that I Exist.” Existence of Consciousness in this world implies one who IS alive, who DOES exist. Those who are alive (Birds and Animals included) always breathe. You could just as easily say the name is “I breathe that I exist.” That’s in stark contrast to bowing down in front of some Egyptian God that’s just some sort of carved out piece of stone, which does not breathe or walk or tell you anything.
Furthermore, the 3rd of the
10 Commandments is “You shall not take
the name of YHWH, your God, in vain; for he will not hold him innocent who takes the name in vain.” Other verses refer to
the name specifically, such as
Exodus 33.
In other words, making the name “useless” or profaning the name (by saying he is what he isn’t) is a sin.
‘Sin,’ BTW, is a word that means ‘Missing the Mark In Life.’ If one does this on purpose to make deceitful money, you could say that he’s breaking at least 6 of the 10 commandments:
You shall have No Other Gods Before YHWH (going against God’s commands IS having a different God altogether, make no mistake about it.)
You shall have No Graven (Created) Images of Gods (which I interpret to also mean false ideas of God; like God, those are invisible, but the idea of having a carved God like those in Ancient Egypt is also an idea,)
You shall Not Take God’s Name in Vain (this goes far deeper than just mispronouncing the name when you never knew it in the first place, it can refer to making his name of no effect and also of putting false words in his mouth on purpose.)
You Shall Not Steal (by extension, omitting information on purpose is stealing knowledge from people.)
You Shall Not Bear False Witness (Lie; lead one to have a false image of God in people’s minds,)
You shall Not Covet (Desire anything of your Neighbor’s. [By omitting God’s name from the Bible in a lust of desiring “Sauron” levels of power, this is coveting that which should be in other people’s life.])
It might even be an issue that indirectly causes people to be murdered (if people despair and/or go crazy,) so, misusing the name of God is not a tiny speck that ought to be overlooked.
Exodus 33:11 states that God spoke face to face with Moses (implying being there,) and Deuteronomy 23:14 says “Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.” It’s saying God’s among the camp of people…
I do not think that
English with all of its Greco-Roman influenced pride is always the best language to read
THE HOLY BIBLE in. I’m not saying it’s
all wrong, but there is great benefit to seeking God in Hebrew, from a Hebraic perspective, as well as one can do, wholeheartedly. Much can show up nicely, out there.
I’ve been using these sites to study:
“Ancient Hebrew Recearch Center (AHRC) Hosted by Jeff Benner”:ancient-hebrew.org
Scripture4All’s Hebrew Section