What's In A Name ?
The holy name of God in the Old Testament is YHWH. It is a name Jewish people never pronounce because of the commandment not to take God's name in vain. In the King James Bible it was sometimes translated Jehovah. That translation is completely wrong and that name never appears in the Bible. Among many Christians the divine name is pronounced Jahweh, or more often, Yaweh. That is our best guess. By the time of Jesus, only the High Priest pronounced the sacred name of God, and then only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), when he went into the High Holy place in the Temple in order to carry out the atonement rituals. So, after the destruction of the Temple, the actual pronunciation of the Name was lost. Jews now substitute either the word Adonai, which means Lord, or the word HaShem, which means "The Name". Modern Christian translators follow Jewish tradition by substituting "The Lord" where YHWH is written. Thus the Hebrew of Psalm 23 literally translated would be, "YHWH is my shepherd I shall not want." But we substitute "The Lord" for the divine name of God.
What does the name mean? In its basic form it can mean "He is" following the revelation of God to Moses "I am that which I am". It also can mean "I will be that which I will be". In fact, Jewish scholars say that the name contains every form of the verb "to be" that is possible. Thus the infinity of God is emphasized in one name. Both the Jewish and Christian traditions emphasize God as a transcendent mystery. This captures the fact that God "was and is and ever shall be". God is not limited by the human mind or ability to comprehend or express the divine presence. God is, above all, through all, and in all. God is changeless and unmoved by time and space.
This is all a nice theological idea, but what does it mean for you and for me? Well, if God transcends time and space then God is never absent from any detail of our lives however small. God was there before we were born and after we pass away. Also it means God is sort of a verb. God is active for us throughout all time, and is active in showing us the divine way. We may feel that God is not there, or that we can escape God's presence, but God subsumes all that is and is present in it. God is there. Since the divine name is a verb, God is involved in our lives. God reveals himself to us through God's actions. In the Christian understanding God became one of us in Jesus so that we might have a relationship to the infinite God. Finally, we can never understand completely what God is or what God wants as a plan for our lives. God is infinite and beyond our understanding except in so far as God has revealed himself to us. In Christ we understand what God does for us and asks of us. The Infinite loves us and will lead us. Yet we are created and finite, our minds are not big enough to fully understand and contain God. Our lives come to be and pass before a God who is eternal. We must grow in our understanding of God but we will never attain the fullness of understanding. Therefore, we should realize that, beyond a few basic points, our lives are mysteries to be lived in trust and not problems to be worked out and solved. We cannot claim that we who are finite, have ”cornered the market” on what we know of God. God is life now and forever. In Jesus we become alive in God. Let's live lives of faith and trust basking in, and sharing, the love of God in a broken and sinful world.
In The Peace of God's Presence,
Jim Stahr
The holy name of God in the Old Testament is YHWH. It is a name Jewish people never pronounce because of the commandment not to take God's name in vain. In the King James Bible it was sometimes translated Jehovah. That translation is completely wrong and that name never appears in the Bible. Among many Christians the divine name is pronounced Jahweh, or more often, Yaweh. That is our best guess. By the time of Jesus, only the High Priest pronounced the sacred name of God, and then only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), when he went into the High Holy place in the Temple in order to carry out the atonement rituals. So, after the destruction of the Temple, the actual pronunciation of the Name was lost. Jews now substitute either the word Adonai, which means Lord, or the word HaShem, which means "The Name". Modern Christian translators follow Jewish tradition by substituting "The Lord" where YHWH is written. Thus the Hebrew of Psalm 23 literally translated would be, "YHWH is my shepherd I shall not want." But we substitute "The Lord" for the divine name of God.
What does the name mean? In its basic form it can mean "He is" following the revelation of God to Moses "I am that which I am". It also can mean "I will be that which I will be". In fact, Jewish scholars say that the name contains every form of the verb "to be" that is possible. Thus the infinity of God is emphasized in one name. Both the Jewish and Christian traditions emphasize God as a transcendent mystery. This captures the fact that God "was and is and ever shall be". God is not limited by the human mind or ability to comprehend or express the divine presence. God is, above all, through all, and in all. God is changeless and unmoved by time and space.
This is all a nice theological idea, but what does it mean for you and for me? Well, if God transcends time and space then God is never absent from any detail of our lives however small. God was there before we were born and after we pass away. Also it means God is sort of a verb. God is active for us throughout all time, and is active in showing us the divine way. We may feel that God is not there, or that we can escape God's presence, but God subsumes all that is and is present in it. God is there. Since the divine name is a verb, God is involved in our lives. God reveals himself to us through God's actions. In the Christian understanding God became one of us in Jesus so that we might have a relationship to the infinite God. Finally, we can never understand completely what God is or what God wants as a plan for our lives. God is infinite and beyond our understanding except in so far as God has revealed himself to us. In Christ we understand what God does for us and asks of us. The Infinite loves us and will lead us. Yet we are created and finite, our minds are not big enough to fully understand and contain God. Our lives come to be and pass before a God who is eternal. We must grow in our understanding of God but we will never attain the fullness of understanding. Therefore, we should realize that, beyond a few basic points, our lives are mysteries to be lived in trust and not problems to be worked out and solved. We cannot claim that we who are finite, have ”cornered the market” on what we know of God. God is life now and forever. In Jesus we become alive in God. Let's live lives of faith and trust basking in, and sharing, the love of God in a broken and sinful world.
In The Peace of God's Presence,
Jim Stahr
posted by Theoblogger at
4:40 PM
