Today, many Christians are under the impression that the Tetragrammaton – the four consonants of the name of God written without any vowels, יהוה, ie. YHVH – should be spelt and transliterated as “Yahweh”.
However, most do not realise that this trend started only in the 18th century, and because of a Hebrew grammarian from Germany, one Wilhelm Gesenius. Gesenius lived and worked during the Enlightenment, which saw the American and French Revolutions, when Freemasonry and also the Bavarian Illuminati, were on the ascendancy. Among Bible translators, Gesenius is somewhat influential, because the popular Hebrew lexicon of Brown-Driver-Briggs is said to be based on his work.
Before Gesenius, Christians, or at least English Protestants, had accepted that the Tetragrammaton should be spelt and transliterated as “Yehovah”, or as it is in Latin “Jehovah”. It was the 16th century English scholar and Christian martyr William Tyndale who first translated the Tetragrammaton in certain verses of the Bible as “Jehovah” rather than “LORD”. I am not sure why he did it in some verses and not all. Anyway, his translation influenced the likes of the KJV, and so Christendom had become aware that the name of God the Father might well be pronounced Jehovah, at least in Latin.
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance… Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Psalms 83:4-18, KJV
They have said, “Come, and we cut them off from [being] a nation, And the name of Israel is not remembered anymore.” … Fill their faces [with] shame, And they seek Your Name, O Yhwh. They are ashamed and troubled forever, Indeed, they are confounded and lost. And they know that You—Your Name [is] Yhwh—By Yourself [are] the Most High over all the earth!
Psalms 83:4-18, LSV
In the 19th century, a cult in America started by a Freemason misappropriated the name Jehovah for themselves, which constitutes blasphemy. I am referring to the religion of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which teaches that Jesus Christ is the archangel Michael and that in the end only 144000 of all of humanity will be saved.
Some people say, it was out of reverence and a desire not to blaspheme that the Jews decided at some point to avoid thereafter speaking aloud the name of God. Even today, most Jews refer to God the Father as “Ha-Shem”, as in “The Name”, or else “Adonai”, as in “my Lords”.
Nehemia Gordon, an American Bible scholar from an Orthodox Jewish family, has carried out considerable research on the Tetragrammaton, and he has collected documentary evidence in the form of letters and rare books to make the case that Judaism has not forgotten the name of God at all. Rather, he explains, it has become an oral tradition, passed on from one generation to the next, to keep the name of God a secret among a select few rabbis. Besides this oral tradition, ancient Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament have surfaced where Jewish scribes did write the vowels of every word, including the vowels of the Tetragrammaton. From all of this, it does seem that the name of God is spelt with a Sheva, a Cholam, and a Kamatz – an E, an O, and an A – which means it is indeed “Yehovah” and not “Yahweh”.
Nehemia Gordon explains that among rabbis, there are a number of mnemonics to make sure that the spelling of the Tetragrammaton is never misunderstood when it is passed on orally from one generation to the next. One such mnemonic is that in Exodus 3:15, the Hebrew word for “forever”, לעולם “leolam”, is also spelt with the vowels Sheva, Cholam, and Kamatz. This is the same verse that ends with: “This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Exodus 3:14-15
Now, going back to Gesenius, something else that I must point out is that, apparently, Gesenius speculated that the vowels should be such that the name of God would be pronounced “Yahweh”. He did not deduce or uncover anything, but he speculated. He speculated this, primarily because he noticed that the Samaritans of antiquity had worshipped a god with a similar name. As for the v to w thing, that is due to the fact that in German w is said to be pronounced like the English v. In modern Hebrew, vav is pronounced with a v sound. So, it should be “vah” and never “wah” or “weh”. Furthermore, the supposed Adonai matching vowels idea that is now commonplace among advocates of the name Yahweh also came from Gesenius. Never mind that the vowels of Adonai don’t actually match those of Yehovah. But worst of all, Gesenius said – and he did in fact say this – Yahweh has something to do with the Greek god Jupiter. As you may know, Jupiter is the Greek version of the Roman god Zeus, which is actually the angel Satan himself.
So, by the looks of things, to mistakenly call upon Yahweh instead of the actual name of God, which may or may not be Yehovah, is to in effect call upon Satan instead of God. This is no mere spelling or pronunciation error. This constitutes the complete opposite.
You might ask, why must one know the real name of God the Father?
Well, the Bible prophesies in Joel 2 that in these last days, Jews in Israel must call upon the name of the LORD in order to be saved – the actual name of God that is hidden by the Tetragrammaton, LORD.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Joel 2:32
Fortunately, before this moment, God will pour out his Spirit unto all of Judah: ie. everyone chosen to live on as human beings in the kingdom of God. This is why Joel 2:28-29 precedes Joel 2:32.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
Joel 2:28-29
I bring up all of this now not because I am sure that I do know the correct name of God right now. For Judah, that will be made clear by the Holy Spirit in due time. I bring all of this up now because I have realised that the name Yahweh is likely a trick from Satan. God’s name in Hebrew may or may not be Yehovah, but it is certainly not Yahweh. Always remember, Satan is subtle and a masterful deceiver.
Now, something else I should say is that before the Holy Spirit is given to the remnant and elect of Judah, the saints of God – every one of the 144000 of the 12 tribes of Israel – will be sealed in their foreheads with the name of God by an angel from the east. This is to happen before the time of the fifth trumpet and vial.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Revelation 7:2-4
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Revelation 14:1
This means the saints of God, who are “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb”, should know the name of God the Father before everyone else.
Since I am a saint, the one prophesied in Isaiah 49, somehow I am to know along with the others the name of God the Father before everyone else.
Another thing is, when the Jews in Zion see Jesus Christ at the time of the Second Coming, they are to say something to the effect, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD. But instead of the word LORD, or the substitute Ha-shem, it should be the actual name of God the Father.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23:39
Essentially, this will be the elect of Israel formally recognising the Messiah, or the Christ.
Now, you may heard that the English name “Jesus”, which in the original Greek is Ἰησοῦς, transliterated Iēsous, should be “Yeshua”, which like “Yeshu” – how the Talmud referred to Jesus at the time of the Son of man – is either an Aramaic form or some kind of contraction of the name “Yehoshua”, as in “Joshua”, meaning “God is salvation”.
Suppose, for the moment, that the name Jesus, a transliteration of the Greek name Iesous, is indeed Joshua in English, which is Yehoshua in Hebrew. This would mean the names Yehovah and Yehoshua share the first two syllables. These two syllables are the same two of Yehoshafat, a name meaning “God has judged”, which occurs in Joel 3:9-12.
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones [saints and angels] to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
Joel 3:9-12
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Joel 3:13-17
All of Joel 3:9-17 is about war in these last days that ends with conquest of the promised land.
After Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, Joshua was the name of the man that God chose from among his people to lead the conquest of the promised land.
Is this a coincidence? I don’t know. Just saying, there might well be something to the names Yehovah and Yehoshua.
Certainly, Revelation 19 explains that on the day of the LORD, Jesus Christ will have a name written that no man knows except he himself. Either no one knows for sure his Hebrew name, or else no can read proper Hebrew script (modern day Hebrew is written in Ktav Ashurit), or else both.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he [Jesus Christ] doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written [probably in proper Hebrew script], that no man knew, but he himself.
Revelation 19:11-12
Revelation 2 further explains that Jesus Christ will write upon all of the saved who will be born again to live in the new Jerusalem the name of God the Father, and also his own “new” name, presumably his name in Hebrew. Remember, “Jesus” is a transliteration of the Greek Iesous.
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Revelation 2:11-12
As for whether the name Yehovah is correct, nothing is for sure until the angel from the east seals the saints, and then when the Holy Spirit arrives for Judah, they will also know the true name of God the Father.