15 Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. MARK 16
Other uses (instructions actually) pertain to praying, blasphemy, confession, and exaltation of the Most Holy Name. This leads us to conclude that Exodus 20:7 is only a part (technically a decree) of the real Commandment No. 3.
For a while, the scribe of this book thought the real commandment was Bless the Most Holy Name <bless as in uncover, confess, exalt, sanctify, make holy, honor, spread, pray to>.[1]
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. PSALM 103 kjv
9 Hallowed be Your name. MATTHEW 6
9 May Your holy name be honored. MATTHEW 6 tev
But questions cropped up in his mind: “Why practice integrity? Why bless, confess and exalt the Most Holy Name? Why pray? Why the Great Commission? Why refrain from blasphemy?” It was then that the Lord made him read what Mark Kinzer wrote:
Just as our words can destroy human relationships, so our words can destroy our relationship with the Holy Lord. Conversely, just as our words can build up and strengthen human relationships, so they can build up and strengthen our relationship with God and other people’s relationship with God.[2]
While reading Kinzer, it dawned on the scribe what the real Commandment No. 3 is: Speak only to build and firm up a love-relationship with God. Also, it dawned on him what the real Commandment No. 9 is: Speak only to build and firm up love-relationships with your neighbors. This book lists the two commandments accordingly.
Confess the Most Holy Name
In our lectures we often ask our audience: “Who is your God? What is His name?” Surprisingly, many seem to be stunned by the question. The answers vary: Some say Yahweh, others say Jesus Christ, still others say Adonai or Elohim or El-Shaddai.
So, what is the name of God? Men have given Him different names but God Himself prescribed three: I am, YHVH and Y’shua.
Name No. 1: I AM
The name was first revealed to Moses.
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them ‘The God of your ancestors had sent me to you,’ and they ask me ‘What is His name?’ then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am,. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ 15 This is My name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” EXODUS 3
What is significant in the name? In early times men called God by His divine attributes. The Scripture recorded some of the names:
§ YHVH-Yireh as in Genesis 22:14 meaning God provides.
§ YHVH-Rafa as in Exodus 15:26 meaning God who heals.
§ YHVH-Nissi as in Exodus 17:15 meaning God is my banner / miracle.
§ YHVH-Shalom as in Judges 6:23 meaning God of peace.
§ YHVH-Ruhi as in Psalm 23 meaning God is my shepherd.
§ YHVH-Tzidkenu as in Jeremiah 23:6 meaning God our righteousness.
§ YHVH-Tzava’ot as in Jeremiah 10:16 meaning God of heaven’s armies.
§ YHVH-Shamah as in 2 Corinthians 3:17 meaning God is present there.
§ El-Gibbor as in Psalm 95:3 meaning Mighty God.
§ El-Roi as in Genesis 16:13 meaning God who sees.
§ El-Shaddai as in Genesis 17:1 meaning God the Almighty.
§ Ha-Elyon as in Isaiah 14:14 meaning the Most High.
§ El-Elyon as in Genesis 14:18 meaning God Most High.
§ Ha-G’dulah as in Hebrews 8:1 meaning the Greatness or the Majesty.
§ Ha-G’vurah as in Matthew 26:64 meaning the Power.
§ Ha-Kadosh as in John 2:20 meaning the Holy One.
§ Ha-M’vorakh as in Mark 14:61 meaning the Blessed One.
§ Ha-Shem as in 3 John 7 meaning the Name.
The name I am was prescribed to make us understand that God is not only the Great Provider or the Ultimate Healer, but the sum total of the divine attributes. It is an assurance that He can effectively become the kind of God that each one of us needs.
27 To put it concisely, “He is all.” ECCLESIASTICUS 43
The Son of God appropriated the name as His.
58 “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am.” 59 At this [the Jews] picked up stones to stone Him, but Y’shua hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. 24 “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins.” JOHN 8
Name No. 2: YHVH
Again the name was first revealed to Moses.
2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord [YHVH]. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as [El-Shaddai] God Almighty, but by My name [YHVH] I did not make Myself known to them.” EXODUS 6
22 The Lord commanded Moses 23 to tell Aaron and his sons to use the following words in blessing the people of Isra’el: 24 “May the Lord [YHVH] bless you and take care of you; 25 May the Lord [YHVH] be kind and gracious to you; 26 May the Lord [YHVH] look on you with favor and give you peace.” 27 And the Lord said, “If they pronounce My name as a blessing upon the people of Isra’el, I will bless them.” NUMBERS 6 tev
YHVH is a combination of two Hebrew Aramaic words: Yah meaning “God” and veh meaning “forgive.” The name literally translates to “Forgiving God.” But to be biblically precise, YHVH means:
6 …the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished. EXODUS 34
YHVH is pronounced yah-weh, the Hebrews making an o or u sound of the Hebrew letter v (vav). So how come the Jehovah’s Witnesses pronounce YHVH as “Jehovah”? Lew White gave this explanation: The Hebrews originally wrote the name in tetragrammaton [four letters] YHVH. Because the name was holy and not to be blasphemed by improper use, it became Jewish custom to never use it. Vowel points were placed beneath the name to cue the [Scripture] reader not to pronounce it, but to say instead Adonai (Hebrew meaning “the Lord”). Over time, it became an offense worthy of death by stoning to pronounce the name [YHVH] aloud, except for a cohen (Jewish priest).
We must eliminate blatant errors. The tetragrammaton YHVH is changed to JHVH. There is no J in Hebrew. You can easily find that the letter J didn’t exist on the planet until about 1520 ce. Vowels are stuffed into the spaces of the tetragrammaton such that some of the transliterations have been pronounced JeHoVaH, YaHoWah, YaHuWah, JaHVeh, YaHWeH, IAOUE, IAUE, YaHueh, YaHVeh and others. But as said earlier, vowel points placed beneath the name were to cue the reader NOT to pronounce it, but to say Adonai instead.[3]
[1] Encarta defines bless as (1) RELIGION make holy: to bestow holiness on somebody or something in a religious ceremony; (2) protect: to watch over somebody or something protectively; (3) wish well: to declare approval and support for somebody or something; (4) confer personal benefit on: to give somebody a desirable quality or talent; (5) thank: to express heartfelt thanks to somebody.
[2] Mark Kinzer, Taming the Tongue (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant Books, 1982), p. 128.
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