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There are people who call themselves “witnesses” but, in truth, they are “false witnesses”. They are playing witnesses to something not true. They are inculcating in the minds of their 2 million members (as they claim) that the name of God is “Jehovah”. Members who refuse to accept it are threatened of not being saved. That belief is a blatant lie because they, themselves, had confesses that such was not really the correct pronunciation to God’s name. They believe that the word “Yahweh” is the more correct way of pronouncing God’s name. In spite of the fact that they are more inclined to believe that “Yahweh” is the more correct pronunciation to God’s name, they still instill in the minds of the people that God’s name is “Jehovah”. This is one reason why we are saying that the name of God is, indeed, a very broad topic. Not only that, it is also a very sensitive subject matter.
Now, let us familiarize ourselves with the word “name” in the Bible. Biblically speaking, the word “name” is very important, although some Catholics believe that a name is not that important. In fact, there was one religious pastor who remarked, Why talk about the name when a name is immaterial? He even cited a Shakespearean line, “A rose by any other name will still be sweet.” That is not true! If somebody gives you this quotation, that would mean that, that person is out of his mind. Why say that, a rose by any other name is sweet? In the Philippines, there is a flower called, katuray. By the mere sound of its name, we can already tell that this flower is not sweet, even if you call it “rose”. Using the name “rose” for a “katuray” will not make it any sweeter. Misnaming anything is not good. You have to name all things accordingly – exact and precise. If you will not consider certain factors and circumstances in naming persons or things, the result is a misnomer.
If you are going to call bronze, or an iron painted with gold as gold, you will be fooling a lot of people. When you say gold, it must be a soft metal, not necessarily yellowish in color because there is such a thing as white gold, with a certain luster. It is also attractive to the eye. But if you are going to ascribe the word “gold” to a bronze, that is deception.
When we talk about the name of God, we have to be precise because we are referring to the Creator of all things, of every truth, and of every goodness. Aside from that, He is the reason behind our existence. Insofar as the Bible is concerned, a name is very important.
Proverbs 22:1 says—
“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”
The written word of God introduces the value of a name. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Take note, it is not just riches but “great riches”. We have known great riches in the Bible. For example, the house of Balak was full of gold and silver.
Numbers 24:13 says—
“If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak.”
Balak’s house contained great riches; it was full of silver and gold. But the Bible says,
“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” See how important a good name is?
And if we are going to choose among names, surely, we will choose the most appropriate and the most fitting. Now, let us try to analyze further the reasons behind a name. The name “Isaac” means joy, happiness, laughter. And Isaac was given that name because before he was born, an angel of the Lord told his father, Abraham, the following year, Sarah, his wife, will conceive and give birth to a son. But upon hearing this, Sarah laughed. Why did she laugh? She laughed because she was already very old. She was past her menopausal years. And even Abraham was almost a hundred years old already. From Sarah’s laughter was the name Isaac originated.
In the Bible, naming a person is sometimes based on the incidents in the person’s life. Sometimes, it is based on his physical appearance, like Esau, for instance. Esau means “hairy”. He was called Esau because of his physical traits – his skin was hairy.
Genesis 25:25 says—
“And first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they call his name Esau.”
Therefore, the name of Esau fits his physical appearance.
Sometimes, a name also speaks of an incident in a person’s life. Like in the case of Moses for instance. What does Moses’ name signify? Because he was taken out of the water, they called him Moses. The name “Moses” is not Hebrew. It was Egyptian, and it means, “He was taken out of the water.”
Now, the name “Yashua” is another thing. In Hebrew, it means “savior”. The name “Yahsua”, or “Jashua”, or “Jesus”, in Greek, refers to a savior.
That is why, if we are going to ask the Bible of the real name of the Creator, who is commonly called God, we will come across a very great idea of a very broad truth. The question is, What is His name? Who named Him? These are sensible questions. It is wise to believe that somebody named everything that has a name. In Genesis, all the animals and the fowls were named by Adam.
Genesis 2:19—
“And out of the ground the Lord God formes every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them to Adam to seen what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”
In the Bible, a name refers to the way a person, or a thing, is called. We have also learned that in naming persons and things, there are factors to consider. And we have seen that in the names of Isaac, Esau, and Moses.
Therefore, in studying the name of the Almighty God, it is imperative that we get to know how we should address Him. How are we going to call Him? How are we going to praise and worship His name? Our Lord Jesus Christ said—
“Pray unto this manner, Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name …”
We have to worship the name of the Lord. But what is His name? Certainly, it is not Jehovah. Using their own published material, we can prove that without a shadow of a doubt. Jehovah is not the name of God!
