Transcript The Sacred Name

The Sacred Name YHVH
Conclusion
Why We Don’t Use Any
Variation of “the Name” in
our Fellowship
Three Reasons:
1.It is Divisive
2.It is Offensive to observant
unsaved Jewish people.
3.Any variation of
pronunciation is 99.9% Likely
to be Wrong!
1) It IS Divisive!
It is DIVISIVE even among the
Sacred Name Groups amongst
themselves.
It is DIVISIVE in Messianic
Groups.
Regarding Divisiveness:
Not ALL Divisiveness is Wrong or Evil:
– God DIVIDED the Light from the Darkness
– God DIVIDED the Waters from the Earth
– God DIVIDED the Waters from the Heavens
– God DIVIDED the Woman from the Man
TRUTH (and Truth ALONE) Can and
SHOULD Divide!
Yeshua, Truth Incarnate DIVIDED people!
Matthew 10:34 - "Do not think that I came to
bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring
peace but a sword. 35 "For I have come to 'set a
man against his father, a daughter against her
mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law'; 36 "and 'a man's enemies will be
those of his own household.'
So, If We Were Dealing With
Absolute Truth on the Sacred
Name Issue, then It CAN and
SHOULD DIVIDE!
BUT, We are NOT Dealing with
Absolute Truth with the Sacred Name
as it is Being Used by ANY of the
Sacred Name Groups or by the Church!
2) It IS OFFENSIVE
to Jewish People!
Let me ask you - If I Said a really,
really Nasty Word right now, would
you all be offended?
Would you want your children to
hear it?
Can Mere Words Offend Someone?
That old adage, “Sticks and stones
can break my bones but words will
never hurt me” is simply Not True!
People DIE because of words!
Jews Are Offended
By the use of the Name in any variant
because it is equivalent to taking the
Lord’s Name in vain!
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."
Reminder: That’s Why They
Hyphenate the Words of God and
Lord in ANY Language when it
relates to the One True God.
Examples: L-rd, G-d
So, if you Use Your Variant of the
Name Here
and Make it an Issue
Then what you are really saying is that
it doesn’t bother you to offend
someone to the point that they will
walk out and not even hear the Gospel
to be saved!
It is the Gospel that is the Power of
Salvation to the Jew First and then to
the Greek – NOT Your Variant
Pronunciation of the Name
Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of
the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Jews Have to HEAR the Gospel to
be SAVED BY the Gospel!
Romans 10 – 1 Brothers, my heart’s deepest desire
and my prayer to God for Isra’el is for their
salvation… 12 That means that there is no
difference between Jew and Gentile — Adonai is
the same for everyone, rich toward everyone who
calls on him, 13 since everyone who calls on the
name of Adonai will be delivered.
Romans 10
14
But how can they call on someone if they
haven’t trusted in him? And how can they trust
in someone if they haven’t heard about him?
And how can they hear about someone if no
one is proclaiming him? 15 And how can people
proclaim him unless God sends them? — as the
Tanakh puts it, “How beautiful are the feet of
those announcing good news about good
things!”
Romans 10:17
“So trust comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through a
word proclaimed about the Messiah.”
If They Don’t Hear, They Won’t Come
to Faith in Messiah and Be Saved!
What Advantage is it to ALL of US
(Jew and Non-Jew) if Jewish people
Come to Faith in Yeshua and be
Saved?
Romans 11
11 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that they have
stumbled with the result that they have
permanently fallen away?” Heaven forbid! Quite
the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that
the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order
to provoke them to jealousy. 12 Moreover, if their
stumbling is bringing riches to the world — that is,
if Isra’el’s being placed temporarily in a condition
less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing
riches to the latter — how much greater riches will
Isra’el in its fullness bring them!
Sha’ul is Using a Kal v’Khomer
(Light and Heavy) Here
“…if their stumbling is bringing riches
to the world… how much greater
riches will Isra’el in its fullness bring
them…”
So, If It is a Blessing to Gentiles
that there was a Temporary
Rejection of Yeshua so that they
can be grafted into the Olive Tree,
How Much More of a Blessing to
Gentiles will Their Acceptance of
Him Be?
It Behooves the Non-Jewish
Brethren to NOT OFFEND
the Jewish Person Visiting
our Congregation so that
They Could HEAR the Gospel
and BE SAVED!
As Messianic Congregations
We are not just out to bring nonJewish people into the faith!
We are called to bring ALL people
into the faith and be a bridge of
sorts
between
the
various
communities!
We Are NOT an Exclusive
“Saved Persons Club”
People (Jewish and non-Jewish)
who are NOT SAVED should come
in as well and be able to Hear the
Gospel and be SAVED by it!
If We Offend a Jewish Person
Because of Our Personal
Preferences and NOT Because of
the “Rock of Offense” Yeshua
Romans 9:33
"I am placing a rock in Zion that
people trip over, a large rock
that people find offensive…”
We Are NOT to Be the Offense
Yeshua is!
So if we ask the Question:
“What’s in it for me if I set aside
my personal preferences for the
sake of not offending the Jewish
person?”
The Answer is, According to Paul:
MUCH!
“…how much greater riches will
Isra’el in its fullness bring them
[the non-Jewish believers]…”
Non-Jewish Believers Will be
MORE BLESSED When
Jewish non-believers Come
to Faith in Yeshua!
It is to YOUR ADVANTAGE
That Jewish people come to
faith in Him!
That being the Case, Why
Would You Want to OFFEND The
Jewish non-believer for the Sake
of Your Preferences?
Here’s an Example: Sha’ul Speaks
to the Romans about Personal
Preferences in the Fellowship
When he speaks about FOOD in Romans 14:
1 Now as for a person whose trust is weak,
welcome him - but not to get into arguments over
opinions. 2 One person has the trust that will
allow him to eat anything, while another whose
trust is weak eats only vegetables.
Romans 14
3
The one who eats anything must not
look down on the one who abstains;
and the abstainer must not pass
judgment on the one who eats
anything, because God has accepted
him - 4 who are you to pass judgment
on someone else's servant?
Romans 14
20
Don't tear down God's work for the sake of
food. True enough, all things are clean; but it is
wrong for anybody by his eating to cause
someone to fall away. 21 What is good is not to
eat meat or drink wine or do anything that
causes your brother to stumble. 22 The belief
you hold about such things, keep between
yourself and God.
Here’s Another Example: Just Like
Tongues
Sha’ul says that if you speak in tongues and if
there is no interpreter, then remain silent, praying
to God.
1 Corinthians 14 - 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue,
two—or at the most three—should speak, one at
a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is
no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in
the church and speak to himself and to God.
So, We Must Put Our “Personal
Preferences” Aside
• Personal preferences do NOT “Trump” what
God is Doing in the Congregation. Some
people who are into the spiritual gifts would
personally like to have more of the sign gifts
used in the Congregation setting here!
• To fellowship with us, they have had to put
their personal preferences aside.
Same Thing Goes Regarding the
Sacred Name
If you hold to a particular variant of pronunciation
of the Sacred Name and wish to fellowship with
us here at Beth Yeshua, then put it aside!
Please Don’t make it an issue here, because
statistically speaking, your version of the Name is
99.9 % likely NOT TRUTH!
So, as with tongues, You should pray quietly to
yourself with whatever variant of the Name you
use. Just don’t do it where people can hear you!
This Leads us to the Third Point:
3) It is Likely Wrong!
In Part Two of This Series
I used the White board and placed many
“Yud” “Hay” “Vav” Hay”s on the Board and
Randomly inserted the Nikudot (Vowel
Points). I showed that by simply changing
the Nikudot, I could make the pronunciation
different.
Remember: Biblical Hebrew has NO Vowels
or Vowel Points (Nikudot) until the
Massoretes!
One Can Come Up With Over 200
Variants of Pronunciation of the
Sacred Name
By simply changing the Nikudot.
Let’s ASSUME that Just ONE of the
Possible Variants in Pronunciation
is Correct!
There can be ONLY ONE of these variants
that is Correct, since you can only do so
much with the pronunciation of ANY
EARTHLY LANGUAGE!
In the “Sacred Name Movement”
alone there many variations of
how individual groups pronounce
the Name.
Thus, 99.9% of them are WRONG
about the Name. No one KNOWs
which one of the variants are
correct!
And Once Again, as I’ve Shared
Many Times Already:
You ONLY know how a word,
ANY WORD, is Pronounced if
you HEAR IT!
You CANNOT know how a word
is pronounced by READING IT!
With the wide variation of
pronunciations in the Sacred Name
Movement alone, it is quite
obvious that they actually never
heard the Name pronounced
despite their protest that God
“whispered it in their ear”!
Again: We Can and Must Divide
over TRUTH, but NOT for Anything
less!
Quite a few Sacred Name adherents
have come to US wanting US to change
where we are at and to use the Name in
whatever variant they use
I View Such as an Attack from the
Enemy through Good (but
misguided) Sincere People
(who doesn’t want Jews or anyone
to be saved) who think they are
doing the will of God.
(See Peter in Matthew 16:13-23)
Finally
What appropriate names CAN
WE
USE
regarding
our
addressing
God
in
the
Fellowship or in private without
resorting to a variant of the
Sacred Name?
WWJD or Better Yet, WWYD???
Though He used many I am
statements “I am the way, the truth
and the Life…” “I am the light of the
world…” “I am the bread of life” they
did not have the same impact as the
claim to Deity as found in the
following:
John 8:24
21
Again he told them, "I am going away, and you
will look for me, but you will die in your sin -where I am going, you cannot come." 22 The
Judeans said, "Is he going to commit suicide? Is
that what he means when he says, `Where I am
going, you cannot come'?" 23 Yeshua said to them,
"You are from below, I am from above; you are of
this world, I am not of this world. 24 This is why I
said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you
do not trust that I AM [who I say I am], you will
die in your sins."
John 8:58
Yeshua said to them, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, before
Abraham was, I AM."
The Reaction of the Jewish leaders
Tells you how they understood
the statements made by our
Lord.
Similarly: In John 5:18
The Jewish leaders wanted to kill him
because He said God was his Father,
making himself equal with God (in
nature.)
This meant a special relationship that
excludes anyone else is able to have.
And In John10:30
Yeshua claimed “I and my Father are
one.”
In V.33 the Jewish leaders pick up
stones because they understood this
as blasphemy in v.36 Yeshua interprets
what He meant by saying, “because I
said, I am the Son of God.”
Avinu
Our Lord Yeshua uses them in “The Lord’s
Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13):
“Our Father, which art in heaven…”
“Our Father” in English means the same as
the Hebrew “Avinu.”
Therefore, we Can Conclude
That if our Lord and Savior didn’t
ALWAYS use the Sacred Name, we
don’t either.
Better Yet – Let’s Use a Name that
He DID USE: “Abba”
Abba is Equivalent to our English word
“daddy.”
After all: Since we are his children,
isn’t that the best name to call Him?
Sha’ul Used it of God: Galatians 4
6
Now because you are sons, God has
sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of
his Son, the Spirit who cries out,
"Abba!" (that is, "Dear Father!"). 7 So
through God you are no longer a slave
but a son, and if you are a son you are
also an heir.
Quite Frankly, I Would Be
Concerned
If my children would address me
by my given name Bruce, instead
of Dad! Are they Mad at Me???
Others may address me by my
given name, but my children only
have the privilege to call me Dad,
or Daddy!
We Could Address Him as
“Adonai”
The TANAKH uses this word 439
times in the Bible and can be
rendered either as “my Lord” or
simply as “Lord.”
Sure, it Can be Used of Men
1 Peter 3:6 – “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham,
calling him my lord (adonai): whose daughters
ye are, as long as ye do well…”
If you address a man whose name you do not
know while in Israel, you can say, “Adon” (sir).
That’s a term of respect.
BUT You Can Also Use the English
Words
Lord and God
Now, If Sha’ul (Paul) Can Use the
Greek Words for Lord and God to
Address BOTH the True God and
the False gods, then WE should be
able to Use the English Equivalent
Words for Lord and God in our
songs, prayers and speech!
1 Corinthians 8
5
For even if there are so-called “gods,”
either in heaven or on earth — as in fact
there are “gods” and “lords” galore — 6 yet
for us there is one God, the Father, from
whom all things come and for whom we
exist; and one Lord, Yeshua the Messiah,
through whom were created all things and
through whom we have our being.
Greek Passage 1 Corinthians 8:5-6
καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶν λεγόμενοι θεοὶ
εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς ὥσπερ
εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί,
[ἀλλ’] ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ἐξ οὗ τὰ
πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ εἷς
κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα
καὶ ἡμεῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ.
Circumlocutions and
Euphemisms
A Circumlocution is an ambiguous
or roundabout figure of speech.
An Euphemism is a generally
innocuous word or expression used
in place of one that may be found
offensive or suggest something
unpleasant.
We use Euphemisms all the time.
We don't call our father "Daniel" or "Miriam" —
we address them as "Father/Dad/Daddy" or
"Mother/Mum/Mommy."
Respectful honor is observed (or
should be) with others outside our
families.
How much more for our Creator?)
“haShem”
The Mishnah (dated to AD/CE 200)
begins to use the term "Ha-Shem" or
"haShem" (literally, The Name) as a
euphemism for "YHVH" (Mishnah:
Yoma 3:8; 4:2; 6:2; Sanhedrin 7:5, 8;
Babylonian Talmud: Sanhedrin 56b).
“AdoShem”
Contraction of the two Hebrew
words Adonai (Lord) and Shem
(Name).
AND there are others that do
not require you to guess and
argue about how to pronounce
the Name
The Bottom Line:
God KNOWS who you are
addressing when you address Him
in ANY Language.
Psalm 139
1
For the leader. A psalm of David:
ADONAI, you have probed me, and you
know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I
stand up, you discern my inclinations from
afar, 3 you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways 4 that
before I speak even a word, ADONAI, you
know all about it already.
The Rules of the Household:
When you come into someone’s house, you
follow their rules of the household!
The Congregation leaders set the Halacha
(walkings) within their respective congregations.
Yeshua (Matthew 18:18): "Truly I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall have been
bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on
earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Binding and Loosing are Rabbinical
Terms Used in Yeshua’s Day:
These terms were used in first century
Judaism to mean "prohibit" and "permit,"
as is clear from the article, "Binding and
Loosing," in the Jewish Encyclopedia,
3:215: "BINDING AND LOOSING" ...
Rabbinical term for 'forbidding and
permitting.' ...
So We Ask that You Please respect
the rules of our household in this
regard and Not Proselytize our
Fellowship members or make the
Name an issue.