“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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Getting Yahweh’s Name Right
I know a man who fancies himself a scholar and a prophet. He is neither, but he has written several books. He must think that writing books is evidence of scholarship. It can be. In his case, it’s not.
In the early-2000s, the man attended at least one talk that I gave about Yahweh’s Name in a church. After I retired and moved to South Carolina, Katie and I met with a group of believers in that town once a month. He showed up at many of those gatherings, too.
In his books, the man I’m talking about used the Name “Yahweh” when referring to Elohim. I applauded him for doing it, but then one day, he texted me and told me that he had done some “research” and discovered that Elohim’s Name is really Yehovah. He had run across some information published by a man named Nehemia Gordon, and Gordon claimed to have discovered several “ancient manuscripts” that showed the vowel markings on Yahweh’s Name in Hebrew. Based on those vowel markings, the man I’m talking about said he knew that Elohim’s name is Yehovah. Then for the pièce de resistance, he told me that he had revised “all of his books” and replaced Yahweh with Yehovah.
At that moment, I knew that he had never actually read my book His Name is Yahweh, or if he read it, he didn’t comprehend it. In the book, I explain that rabbis in the mid-2nd century BC forbade the use of Yahweh’s Name. From about 500 AD to about 1000 AD, rabbis developed the vowel marking system that we see in Hebrew today. Once the vowel marking system was complete, rabbis placed the vowel markings for the word “Adonai” on the Name “Yahweh”. That produced the Name Yehovah.
In my book, I explain that in ancient times the Hebrew letter “vav” was “waw”. The letter “vav” is the Germanized form of “waw”. It didn’t enter the Hebrew language until the 11th century AD, so the “ancient manuscripts” that Gordon “discovered” were written at least 1,100 years after rabbis forbade the use of Yahweh’s Name. See my website “His Name is Yahweh”.
In other words, Gordan’s so-called “discovery” amounted to nothing. In effect, Gordon confirmed what I said in His Name is Yahweh. To prevent Jewish people from accidentally saying “Yahweh”, rabbis created the name “Yehovah” so that if Jewish people said a name for Elohim, it would not be the correct Name.
That did not stop the man I knew. He was off to the races.
See the articles below for more details:
Watch the videos below for further support:
A Confirming Anecdote
In 2002, an Israeli exchange student lived with Katie and me in Virginia. She was a 15-year-old girl named Noam. I was in the process of writing His Name is Yahweh while Noam lived with us. Since Hebrew is her native tongue, she was a tremendous help to me. See “The Pope and Me: A True Story”.
I met Noam’s father, Ishai, for the first time in 2003. We were in Israel for a visit, and Noam and her father met us at the airport. We spent our first day and night in Israel that year with Noam’s family.
On the day we arrived, Ishai wanted to know more about my book. Noam had told him about it, but he was not familiar with the Name “Yahweh”. He had been taught that Elohim’s name is Yehovah. I explained to him what happened and how Yehovah came to be the name that rabbis taught Jewish people.
Ishai listened politely, but I could tell by his expression that he was skeptical. On our second day in Israel, I got up early in the morning which is my custom. I went downstairs to read, and I thought that I was the first person in the house to get up that morning. While I was reading, Ishai came into the house through the front door with a big smile on his face. He said, “Neil, you are right. His Name is Yahweh.”
Ishai had gotten up earlier than me, and he went to see his rabbi to ask him about the things I told him. When confronted with the truth, the rabbi admitted that I was right. Ishai was very pleased.
As I said in my video above, I know that there will be lots of confusion as we approach the Messiah’s return. Satan can’t win, but he can create lots of problems. As always, his mission is to kill, steal, and destroy. He will do those things until Yahweh puts an end to his shenanigans.
We need to get Yahweh’s Name right. Yahweh told us to declare His Name to the world, and we have salvation in the Name “Yahweh”. That’s why Satan is so busy right now trying to prevent people from knowing and accepting the truth.
“The name of Yahweh is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18: 10)
There is no question about the correct pronunciation of Yahweh’s Name. Confusion exists because so many people are not well-informed, although many people who are not knowledgeable pretend to be. They muddy the water for others. Reading His Name is Yahweh and exploring my website “His Name is Yahweh” should remove any doubts you may have. If that doesn’t work, keep in mind that when Yahweh returns, He will declare His Name to us in Person. In the meantime, we should tell people what we know. His Name is Yahweh:
“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know. This time I will make them know My power and My might, and they shall know that My Name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
