The Name of our heavenly Father, written with the 4 consonants, YHWH, appears roughly between 6500 and 7000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Because the oldest available manuscripts of the Messianic Scriptures have been written in the Greek language, by scribes who were influenced by the Jewish tradition of replacing the Name of the Father with a general word meaning something like “Lord” or “Master”, one will not find a single place in these Greek manuscripts where the Hebrew Name of the Father is written down, not even in Greek letters. Not that the Name of the Father was not important to Y’shua, or any of his immediate followers, or to the original writers of the New Testament books. Y’shua taught his disciples to pray: Let Your Name be SET-APART, and NOT: Let Your Name be SET-ASIDE. And when Y’shua prayed in John 17:26, He prayed this prayer: “I have made Your Name known to them, and shall make it known (even more)”, as a fulfilment of the Messianic Psalm 22:22: “I shall make known Your Name to My brothers; in the midst of the assembly I shall praise You.”
There is a very real connection between the Name of Yahweh and the word or words of Yahweh. We learn from Scriptures that when an ordinary person speaks the words that were given or spoken or commanded by Yahweh, he or she then speaks IN THE NAME OF YAHWEH (see Deuteronomy 18:19-22). The house or the temple that had to be built in Solomon’s time, where the word or the words of Yahweh were to be proclaimed, was often called “a house for the Name of Yahweh” (2 Chronicles 6:10). And, as added proof of the connection between Yahweh’s words and His Name, one may take a good look at the words of Psalm 138:2: “I bow myself toward Your set-apart temple, and give thanks to Your Name for Your favour and for Your truth; for You have made great Your Word, Your Name, above all.”
It is quite interesting that when ADDING TOGETHER the number of combined appearances in the Tanak or Old Testament, of the words “name” (H: “shem”), “call” (H: “qara”), “Elohim”, “word” (H: “davar”), “words” (H: “devarim”), and “speak” (H: “davar”), the total is something between 6500 and 7000 times – roughly the same number of times one would find the Name of the Almighty in the very same selection of Scriptures! Among all the words (“devarim”) contained in Scriptures, the words that were used to call upon (“qara”) the Name of the Almighty – even the title Elohim – should stand out as extremely important, and should inspire us to reverently call upon the Name of Yahweh, without holding back! Let us continue our recent focus on the subject of the word or words of Yahweh.
1. THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Deuteronomy 4:2 “Do not add to the Word which I command you, and do not take away from it, so as to guard the commands of Yahweh your Elohim which I am commanding you.
Deuteronomy 12:32 “All the words I am commanding you, guard to do it – do not add to it nor take away from it.
2. THE CLOSENESS OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Deuteronomy 30:14 “For the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart – to do it.
Deuteronomy 4:7 “For what great nation is there which has Elohim so near to it, as Yahweh our Elohim is to us, whenever we call on Him?
3. THE EXTREME VALUE OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Deuteronomy 32:47 “For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which you pass over the Yarden to possess.”
Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life to those taking hold of her, and blessed are all who retain her.
Amos 8:11 “See, days are coming,” declares the Master Yahweh, “that I shall send a hunger in the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the Words of Yahweh.”
4. THE PROVEN NATURE OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
2 Samuel 22:31 “Elohim – His way is perfect; the Word of Yahweh is proven; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 12:6 The Words of Yahweh are clean Words, silver tried in a furnace of earth, refined 7 times.
5. THE DURABILITY OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
1 Chronicles 16:15 Remember His covenant forever, the Word He commanded for a 1000 generations.
Isaiah 40:8 “Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, but the Word of our Elohim stands forever.”
6. THE TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Psalm 119:25 Revive me according to your word; 28 Strengthen me according to your word; 41 Deliver me according to your word; 58 Show favour according to your word; 76 Comfort me according to your word; 116 Support me according to your word; 149 Hear my voice according to your word.
7. THE GREATNESS OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Psalm 138:2 I give thanks to Your Name for Your favour and for Your truth; for You have made great Your Word, Your Name, above all.
Isaiah 42:21 It has delighted Yahweh, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and esteemed.
8. THE REWARD OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Proverbs 13:13 He who despises the Word is destroyed, but he who fears the command is rewarded.
Psalm 19:11 Also, Your servant is warned by them, in guarding them there is great reward.
9. THE UNIVERSAL NATURE OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Isaiah 2:3 And many peoples shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the House of the Elohim of Yaakov, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths, for out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah, and the Word of Yahweh from Yerushalayim.”
Zechariah 8:23 “Thus said Yahweh of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all languages of the nations take hold, yes, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a man, a Yehudi, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.”
10. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
Isaiah 55:11 My Word that goes forth from My mouth – it does not return to Me empty, but shall do what I please, and shall certainly accomplish what I sent it for.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the stake is indeed foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of Elohim.
11. THE DIVIDING NATURE OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
John 8:47 “He who is of Elohim hears the Words of Elohim, therefore you do not hear because you are not of Elohim.”
John 10:26-27 “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
12. THE CLEANSING EFFECT OF THE WORD OF YAHWEH
John15:3 “You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you.
Ephesians 5:25-26 The Messiah gave Himself for the assembly, in order to set it apart and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.
To those who have chosen to become followers of Yahweh, through Y’shua the Messiah, the word or words of Yahweh, have become the single most important driving force in their lives. They have set their minds and their hearts upon complete obedience to the words of Yahweh. And because the words of Yahweh are inseparably intertwined with the character and the Name of Yahweh, they should never shy away from calling on the Name of Yahweh. The 12 characteristics of the word of Yahweh, above, may equally be applied to the Name of Yahweh. To mention just a few of these: Yahweh’s word is both durable and great, but so is His Name, for it says in 2 Samuel 7:26 “Let Your Name be made great forever.” The word of Yahweh is a means of cleaning us, but so is his Name, for it says in Zephaniah 3:9 “I shall turn unto the peoples a clean lip, so that they all call on the Name of Yahweh”. Yahweh’s words are close by or near, but Psalm 75:1 says that his Name is also near to us (see also Deuteronomy 4:7, under “closeness”). Yahweh’s words are universal and aimed at Israel AND the nations, but so is his Name, for it says in Psalm 102:15 “The nations shall fear the Name of Yahweh”.
There is a small town, not far from here, called Philadelphia – a name which means “Love for the Brothers” or “Brotherly Love”. And, of course, there was a town by this name during the time when the book of Revelation was written. Y’shua Himself spoke to the people of this town (through the vision of John) and I would like to conclude with something very special that Y’shua said to them in Revelation 3:8. He said to them that He knew that they had little power, but He also knew their works. And out of these works that He knew, he highlighted two things: “I know that you have guarded my word, and I know that you have not denied my Name.” As a small fellowship, based upon brotherly love and very much aware that we have little power within ourselves, we should take hold of this powerful word, coming from the One whose words and whose Name have always been inseparably connected to the words and the Name of our heavenly Father. May it be said of us, too, in that great and final Day: YOU HAVE GUARDED MY WORD, AND YOU HAVE NOT DENIED MY NAME.
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