Tag Archives: Name

There is Power in The Name

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In my first posting on this topic (What’s in a Name?), I established through a chain of scriptural references that God wants His Name to be known and spoken, although it has been hidden from the majority of Jews and Christians for 2,000+ years. The true pronunciation of God’s (Yehovah’s) Name was hidden before Yeshua (Jesus) came to earth the first time, as the Jewish leaders had decided it was too holy for the common people to speak. Yeshua said that one of the main reasons Abba had sent Him to Earth was to reveal the true name of the Father (Yehovah) to His disciples while He was on the earth (John 17:6).

Since there were no vowels in Hebrew scrolls at that time, there was no way to know the pronunciation of God’s Name from reading the scrolls. However, Jewish scribes painstakingly transcribed the scriptures in the 10th and 11th centuries into what are now known as the Aleppo and the Leningrad Codex. These scrolls are unique because vowel points were added so that unfamiliar words, such as God’s Name, could be pronounced properly. The image at the top of this posting contains the Hebrew letters for God’s Name, including the vowel points as found in the two Codexes mentioned above. According to 100+ instances in these two Codexes, the Name is clearly pronounced as Yehovah or Y’hovah.

What is even more crucial, though, is how we use His Name. In Zechariah 13:9, YHVH says to His people that they will call upon His Name and He will answer them. In the Aaronic blessing, Yehovah spoke to Aaron through Moses and told him what words he was to speak to the people of Israel to bless them (Num 6:23-26). Very few people know that what YHVH said in the next verse is the most important part of the blessing. He was explaining the significance of the blessing when He said: “So shall they [the priests] put My Name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Num 6:27). Each verse of the blessing contains God’s holy Name, and YHVH was saying that if they would place (speak) God’s Name over the people, He would promise to bless them.

God loves to hear His Name spoken and there are so many different ways to speak His Name: in praise and worship (Ps 8:1, 66:4, 148, etc.), in blessings (as in Num 6), in prayers (Isa 1:4, Ps 105:1) and in the joys and sorrows of everyday life (as a greeting in Ruth 2:4). There is power in God’s Name; the greatest power in all the universe. In Isa 45:22, Yehovah is telling everyone to look to Him and be saved; He is saying that He Alone is God and there is no other god. Then in the next verse (Isa 45:23) He says “That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess.” Finally in Verse 24 He says that all Israel will glorify Yehovah as the true Creator and Redeemer God of the universe.

The power of YHVH’s Name is best seen through His attributes that are contained in His compound names in scripture. One of the most powerful is in the graphic at the beginning of this posting: “Yehovah my Miracle [YHVH Nissi]” – this illustrates that we can call on the Name of Yehovah and trust Him to work miracles in our lives, and then give glory to His Name once again when they happen. Another descriptive name for God is Yehovah Yireh (sometimes written as Jevohah Jireh). This is usually translated as “The LORD my Provider”; however, a more accurate translation is “Yehovah who sees”, meaning in essence that He not only sees and knows our needs but that He satisfies them.

The many other names for God in the scriptures powerfully illustrate YHVH’s mercy, forgiveness, and unconditional love for His people. To know God’s Name is important, but it is more relevant to experience the power and beauty of using His Name when we pray. Such prayers are like sweet fragrant incense rising up to our Father in heaven (Rev 5:8).

For instance, when we are interceding for another who is suffering from illness, we can speak His Name along with the attribute of His character that relates to healing: “Yehovah Rapha (The LORD our Healer)”. When we do this, we can sense the Holy Spirit going into action, bringing healing. In the same way, when we cry out to God that He is our Rock (Yehovah Tsuri) we feel comforted in our soul that we can lean on him as our solid Rock and He will never leave us or forsake us. Many people have experienced peace and comfort when they recite the 23rd Psalm, but when you realize that “The LORD our shepherd” is actually “Yehovah Ro’i” in Hebrew and we can call our Shepherd by His Name, then it makes Yeshua’s words in John 10 so much more personal. Yeshua said in John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (Isn’t it easier to hear His voice and discern it from all other (false) shepherds when we know His Name as well as His voice? Finally, He says: “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) How comforting to know that our Creator and Lord is willing to lay down His life for us (and did just that when He died on the cross)?

I will leave you with the words that Yeshua spoke to His disciples near the end of His first mission to the earth: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) If you want to see more about the Hebrew Names for God, see this Web site (remember that “Y” is usually written as “J” in English translations): Names of God – Blue Letter Bible

Speaking God’s Awesome Name

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LORD of Hosts“And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it the LORD my Banner [Yehovah Nissi]” Exodus 17:15

In my previous postings on God’s Name, Yehovah, I spoke about the importance of knowing and speaking God’s holy Name. We learn from the Scriptures that His Name is holy, righteous, mighty, beautiful, glorious, exalted, a high tower, the Word of God. As far as the LORD being a helper for us in our everyday lives having to live “in the world” but not being “of the world”, here are some of the titles and roles that our God [Yehovah Elohim] fulfills: The LORD my rock (tzuri) and my redeemer (goali), my banner/miracle (nissi), my provider (yireh), our shield (mageinu), our refuge (mach’seh), our righteousness (Yehovah Tsid’keinu), The LORD of peace (Yehovah Shalom), the LORD our presence – or “He is there” (Yehovah Shammah), the One who heals (Yehovah Rapha), and the LORD of hosts/armies (Yehovah Tzeva’ot).

This final name, Yehovah Tzeva’ot, is one of the most powerful – it literally means LORD of armies or LORD of hosts.  In Isaiah, we see how this Name is associated with the Messiah in several different passages – here are a couple of examples:

  • Isaiah 44:6 – “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts [Yehovah Tzeva’ot]: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god’.
  • Isaiah 47:4 – “Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts [Yehovah Tzeva’ot] is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.”

From other passages in Isaiah, we know that “The Holy One or Mighty One of Israel” is always used to refer to the Messiah. Putting these references together, it is clear that Yeshua HaMashiach is called the LORD of Hosts as He is the person of the Godhead who directs God’s armies (both heavenly and earthly armies). One other clear passage that identifies Yeshua as Yehovah Tzeva’ot is in Zechariah 14:16: “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts and to celebrate the Feast of Booths”. We have learned from these and other Scriptures (through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration) that when we are cleansing our household of evil spirits (demons), it is very effective to use this divine name of Yeshua, as He is the LORD of Hosts.

There is truly “power in the Name” as believers often quote, but what name is that? We know from Yeshua’s own words to us that we can pray to the Father in His name and whatever we ask will be done (paraphrased from John 16:23). Yeshua also says in John 17:11 (in his prayer to Abba Father): “Holy Father, you have given me Your name; now protect them by the power of Your name so that they will be one just as We are One. During My time here, I protected them by the power of the name You gave me”. Then later in His prayer He says: “I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). So we see from this that Yeshua’s name is holy and powerful, but He is also named with the same name as all persons in the triune Godhead, Yehovah.

So when you are praying, remember that the name and titles of our God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, are powerful, not only for salvation, but for protection and deliverance from our enemies (physical and spiritual), for healing, for victory in life’s battles, and for our times of praise and worship when we are seeking His face, His guidance, and His voice speaking into our lives. Try out these names and see how Yehovah answers you.

Jesus is LORD [Yeshua is Yehovah]

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Yeshua is YehovahSo that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ [Yeshua the Messiah] is Lord [YHVH], to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:10-11

In previous postings on the Name of the sovereign God of the universe, YHVH [Yehovah], I talked about the importance of knowing and speaking His Name, as well as the sad history of the silencing of God’s Name for the past 2300 years. If you recall from those blogs, after the return from exile in Babylon, priests of the Second Temple era decided that God’s name was too holy to pronounce, and they banned the speaking of the Name among the common Jewish people (the priests still knew how to pronounce the Name).

In this blog, I continue this history up into the New Testament period and show how there was even further obfuscation of the Name leading up to the time of Yeshua’s first coming. The first translation of the Old Testament [Tanach] into Greek was the Septuagint, which was completed in 132 BCE. By this time, it was well established that the Name of YHVH was not to be written in any texts (even within Greco-Roman writings). Since the Jews had already been substituting Adonai (Lord) for YHVH, the Septuagint scribes continued the same tradition. When more modern English translators strove to come up with translations that were more faithful to the original Hebrew Tanach Scriptures, they reverted the references to God’s Name (as opposed to His holy title of Lord) back to “LORD”, leaving the other references as “Lord”. Thus, we have a clear way to distinguish God’s Name (YHVH) from his title (Lord) in the Old Testament Scriptures.

When the translators of the Greek New Testament translated the Greek into Latin and modern languages such as English, though, they could not distinguish between the references to the Name YHVH and Lord (as a title). Both words are written as Kurios in Greek. What we have in the New Testament, then, are many verses that are ambiguous as to which meaning is being expressed, God’s Name or His title. I want to focus here on the places in the New Testament where Yeshua is referred to as Lord. Many times this truly is a holy title given to our Messiah and Savior. However, there are quite a few places where Yeshua is being addressed by the Name of God Almighty, YHVH [Yehovah].

Some of the most obvious references to Yeshua as YHVH are quotes or paraphrases of Old Testament verses. The most vivid example of this is the Scripture quoted at the top of this blog, Philippians 2:10-11. Just before this passage (vv. 6-8), the author is saying that Yeshua did not take advantage of the fact that He was in His very nature part of the Godhead, but lowered Himself to be born as a human and then of His own will gave up His life to die on a cross. Then in Verse 9, Sha’ul says that Abba Father gave Him the Name that is above every name. Believers in Yeshua, having the English translations available to them for the New Testament, have always assumed that this Name above all names is Jesus [Yeshua]. However, remember that Yeshua was the name given to the Son of God when He was born on Earth as a human – this name represents His mission, since Yeshua means salvation or deliverance.

Here are a few other verses where it speaks of Yeshua as Lord (which should have been translated as LORD [YHVH]:

  • Rom 10:9-10: ..if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [YHVH] and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
  • I Cor 12:3: and no one can say “Jesus is Lord [YHVH]” except in the Holy Spirit.
  • Matt 23:39: [Yeshua said to the people on “Palm Sunday”] – for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord [YHVH]!’

Some of these verses include quotes or paraphrases from the Old Testament:

  • Phil 2:10-11 was patterned after Isa 45:3: That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess. They shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord [YHVH] I have righteousness and strength.
  • Matt 23:39 was a direct quote from Psalm 118:26 (with LORD in all caps): Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord [YHVH]!

You’re probably asking yourself at this stage – so what is the point of all this? Here’s the bottom line – Jesus [Yeshua] was the Messiah’s name when He was on the Earth fulfilling prophecy as our Savior, but His eternal name is the same as the Father’s – YHVH or Yehovah! He is one of the three persons of the Godhead. He existed from the beginning and was there directing the Creation of the universe along with Abba and the Holy Spirit (John 1:3). To know Yehovah the Father is to know Yehovah the Son and Yehovah the Ruach HaKodesh – they are one [echad] in Spirit but different in character and roles.

[We usually address people by using formal titles (Mr, Mrs, Doctor, and so forth) when we don’t know them well, of if they are entitled to a higher level of respect. Only when we have established some degree of intimacy, do we begin calling people by their given names.] For example, if we are Yeshua’s servants, we would call Him Master; but we are His friends so we call Him by His name, Yehovah. If you want to draw even closer to our Creator, Redeemer, Miracle-Worker, and Lord, call on His Name and you will be able to speak to any or all of the holy and awesome persons of the Godhead who created and love us!

They Shall Know that I Am Yehovah

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they shall know that I am YHVH

So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am YHVH, the Holy One of Israel.” Eze 39:7

In my previous postings on the Name of the Creator and sovereign God of the universe, Yehovah, I talked about the importance of knowing and speaking His Name, as well as the sad history of the silencing of God’s Name for the past 2300 years (see There is Power in the Name). If you recall from that blog, after the return from exile in Babylon, priests of the Second Temple era decided that God’s name was too holy to pronounce, and they banned the speaking of the Name among the Jewish population in general and even within the Temple. In this blog, I wanted to present some encouraging words to believers who feel discouraged and helpless, knowing that the Name of Yehovah is known by so few of God’s people, and even a smaller number of people across the Globe.

We know from Scripture that Yehovah wants His name to be known throughout the Earth, by Jews and non-Jews alike (see Ps 91:14, Isa 52:6, Jer 16:21, Eze 12:15; 22:16; 30:26; 36:23; 39:7; Amos 5:8, John 17:6). We also see clearly in Scripture that YHVH wants everyone to speak His name (Gen 12:8; 26:25, Isa 44:5; 54:5, Jer 10:25). While it is true that most people on earth (believers and non-believers alike) do not know what to call YHVH, we have heard recently about how Yehovah is starting to reveal His name to His people in diverse places. We have experienced this especially among non-Jews who are keeping the Biblical feasts and celebrating YHVH’s Sabbaths.

I recently saw a very interesting example of the unveiling of YHVH’s name in a newsletter that comes out Israel on a daily basis. It is called Jerusalem365 and each article is a combination of a Scripture verse (in English, Hebrew, and transliterated Hebrew), and a photo and story of something happening in Jerusalem that relates to the verse (you can subscribe to the newsletter at the Israel365 site: Israel365 Subscribe). The photographers and authors of the articles are all Israeli Jews, many of whom have made aliyah to Israel (meaning they have emigrated there from other countries).

Here’s the thing that fascinated me about some of their articles: whenever the verse contained YHVH’s Name (“The LORD” in English translations), the Hebrew lettering included the vowels and spelled out YHVH so that it would be pronounced as Yehovah. To be more accurate, YHVH was actually spelled out two different ways in various articles: sometimes it was spelled out exactly as Yehovah, and other times they used a common technique of obscuring the exact Name of God (they reversed the first and last letters).

          Here are the two different forms of YHVH [Yehovah] written in Hebrew:The Name There are several amazing things about the Hebrew Name of God being spelled out fully in these articles:

  1. Because of the ban on speaking or writing the fully pronounceable Name of God, Jewish people would be required to spell God’s Name as HaShem (simply “The Name”), Adonai (Lord as a title for God), or one of the abbreviations used for YHVH in the Torah and other ancient Jewish writings.
  2. When the Hebrew was transliterated into English, it was written as Adonai, which would be acceptable to Rabbis and Orthodox Jews.
  3. The Name in the English text is written as “The LORD”, which is the standard translation found in most English Bibles.

The key point here is that God’s true Name, which Jews refer to as the unpronounceable Name of God, is being revealed to individuals in Israel, and is now being communicated out to thousands of people around the world. While it is true that most Christians and many non-Orthodox Jews would not be able to read the Hebrew or understand the significance if they could read it, YHVH is nevertheless revealing His Name to Israel and the Nations as He said He would (Eze 39:7).

In the greatest prayer that Yeshua prayed, He first said that He had glorified the Father by finishing the work that Abba had given Him to do. (John 17:4) And what work had He completed? In Verse 6, Yeshua says that He made YHVH’s Name known to the disciples that Abba gave Him “out of the world”. From this verse we can see that one of Yeshua’s primary missions was to make known the person, character and true Name of YHVH, so that He could glorify God the Father on earth. [Remember that even in Yeshua’s time there was a ban on speaking the Name of God]. Verse 5 says that after Yeshua’s work was done on Earth, then Abba would glorify His Son by bringing Him back to heaven to be with Him again.

So what does all this mean to us as followers of the Way? If Yeshua made Abba Father known to us by revealing His true Name, then I do not want to waste Yeshua’s hard-earned fruit produced while He was here on the Earth. I hope you will also want to know YHVH’s true Name and that you will want to speak it in your praise and prayers to Abba – Yehovah wants His name to be known, spoken, praised, feared, and glorified throughout the Earth!

Fear and Glorify His Name

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great is your mercy toward me

In my previous postings about God’s name, I talked about the many scripture passages relating to speaking, fearing, and trusting in YHVH’s name [Yehovah]. YHVH goes beyond just saying that we are honoring and pleasing Him when we do these things. YHVH also pours out His blessings on us when we fear, glorify, praise, and trust in His name.

The banner verse for this posting from Psalm 86:12-13 states “…I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is your mercy toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of sheol.” David knew he deserved to be cast off forever and doomed to hell for his sin against Uriah. The prophet Nathan assured David that YHVH had taken away his sin and delivered him from hell. David knew that God’s mercy towards him was awesome and unconditional. In the verse before this (Psalm 86:11), David says “I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” And then in verse 12 he says: “I will glorify Your name forevermore.” Clearly David understood the importance of fearing and glorifying YHVH’s name.

In Isaiah 52:6, YHVH says: “Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I’” (Isa 52:6). The word translated as “behold, it is I” is hineni in Hebrew, which is what Isaiah answered to YHVH when He first called him to be a prophet (Isa 6:8): “Here I am [hineni], send me.” This is a very powerful promise to people who know His name (Yehovah), that He will be right there for them – it essentially means “Here I am, waiting for you.”

One of the greatest blessings King David ever spoke over his people was in 2 Sam 6:18 – “And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts [Yehovah Tzava’ot].” You are truly blessed when someone blesses you in the name of YHVH. Numbers 6:27 confirms this truth. Immediately following the Aaronic blessing YHVH says: “So they shall put My name [Yehovah] on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Num 6:27)

Although all of YHVH’s promises are powerful to meditate on, the passage in Malachi 3:16 is especially meaningful to me, as Yehovah speaks directly about blessing His people because they are fearing and meditating on His name: “Then those who feared the LORD [Yehovah] spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.”

YHVH provides the perfect follow-up to the verse above in the next chapter of Malachi: “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” (Mal 4:2) From the study of Messianic prophecy, we learn that this verse points to the healing miracles Messiah Yeshua would perform when He came to earth the first time. The “wings” spoken of here are Kanaph in Hebrew, which literally means the fringes of the garment which all observant Jews wore. This prophecy was fulfilled in Matt 9:20, when the woman who had the flow of blood for 12 years came up behind Yeshua and touched the fringes of His garment.

This woman had faith in the scripture promise that she would be healed if she “feared His name” (trusted in Yehovah). It was her faith (trust) that healed her more than the physical act of touching the fringes of Yeshua’s garment. What about us? Will we trust in His name the way this woman did, laying our life on the altar and risking everything we have to follow Him? If so, Yehovah is faithful to keep His promises.

The Fragmented Bride

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Bride of MessiahIn our own spiritual journey, the Holy Spirit has led Peter and me to various congregations and ministries. Each new experience taught us something about living and functioning as members of the kingdom of YHVH. Although we fellowship with various groups and congregations, we continue our search for the one congregation where we are encouraged to put all the newly-acquired pieces together.

 A brief summary of our journey may help to paint this picture more clearly. At one congregation, we learned to love each other unconditionally. However, the Spirit moved us on to another congregation to learn our Hebrew roots so that we might gain a more accurate knowledge of the history of our faith and acquire a better lens through which to understand both Old and New Testaments. Once again the Spirit moved us on to various ministries and congregations in order to understand better how we should be functioning in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A separate ministry supplied us with a more mature understanding of our spiritual enemies and how to be delivered from bondage to the enemy. Interaction with various other ministries confirmed the message I had received from Father that we were to call Him by His name. While we are grateful for these congregations and ministries, we wonder why each group seems to have part of the truth, but not all of the truth.  After meditating on Acts chapters 2 through 8, I began to realize just how fragmented the Bride of Messiah has become over the centuries.

 The first eight chapters of the Book of Acts paints a very different picture of the living functioning Bride of Messiah. Yeshua’s followers lived together in close proximity to one another sharing all their belongings. As a unit they prayed, praised and worshipped, studied, healed, preached, taught, learned, and shared all their possessions (Acts 2:42-47). Today, we and many others must search from place to place to acquire what we need to be mature contributers to Yeshua’s Bride.

 When did the fragmenting start? Right away, since the majority of Jewish leaders and many of their followers rejected Yeshua as their Messiah. Yeshua’s followers went to the Temple as YHVH commanded in the Torah, but they had to go outside the Temple parameters in order to learn about Yeshua. Although not perfect, the first generation of Yeshua’s followers provided a more complete picture of what the Bride should be. As time went on the Bride became further fragmented as the good news spread and Yeshua’s followers were scattered over several nations. Distance, persecution, poverty and other trials helped to foster misunderstanding, suspicion, and outright abuse or neglect of each other, especially dividing Jews from non-Jews. Constantine’s efforts to unite his massive empire mingled in pagan practices and beliefs, and at the same time sought to eliminate all ties to Jewish or Hebrew roots. Over time empty manmade rites and rituals increasingly replaced true relationship with YHVH.

 At this time, YHVH seems to be restoring the Bride, perfecting her in anticipation of Yeshua’s return. Several congregations that we have met with locally are seeking to restore the missing pieces in their groups. Three Messianic congregations in India have demonstrated for us the most complete example thus far of how the Bride should function. These congregations function according to their Hebrew roots, actively preach and teach the good news of the Kingdom of YHVH, operate daily in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and call the Father by name. They do so in the midst of daily trials and persecution. What about each of us? How are we participating in YHVH”s work to restore the fragmented Bride?

His Name Alone is Holy

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His Holy NameFrom my first two postings about God’s Name, we know that YHVH [Yehovah] wants us to know and speak His name, and that His name (Yehovah) has been written in Hebrew over 100 times in ancient Scripture texts. I have given examples of how we can use His name when we are speaking healing, deliverance, or blessings of any kind over another person. I have also explained how the pronunciation of His Name has been hidden from the majority of Jews and Christians for more than 2000 years.

What I have not talked about yet is why we are to treat His name as holy and to revere it above all else. In Psalm 138[ESV]: David says to YHVH: “I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word.” The key is that David says YHVH has exalted His name and His word above all else – if we want to focus on what is most important to Abba, then we need to listen to what He says about exalting His name.

There are also many scriptures that talk about the holiness of YHVH’s name: “…all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.” (Ps 145:21); “…He has commanded His covenant forever: holy and awesome is His name.” (Ps 111:9); “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Ps 103:1); “For our hearts shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.” (Ps 33:21); “Let them praise His great and awesome name — He is holy.” (Ps 99:3). So what exactly does holy mean in this context? The Hebrew word for holy (kadosh) actually means “set apart”, and we know from Scripture study that YHVH (His name and His word) is set apart from everything else in the universe, just as David implied in the Psalm 138 quote from the previous paragraph. YHVH also wants us to be set apart from the world, as we are told by Him to be holy as He is holy (Lev 11:45, quoted in 1 Pet 1:16).

My favorite example of the holiness of God’s name [Yehovah] is the display of His awesome power in I Kings 17-18. In the beginning of this story, YHVH is prophesying to Ahab through Elijah that there will be a drought in the land for three years, until YHVH speaks His word to end the drought (I Kings 17:1). During this time, there are signs and wonders to confirm that YHVH is working through Elijah, such as the miracle of the widow’s food lasting through the drought and her son being raised from the dead (I Kings 17:8-24).

When Elijah returns to confront Ahab and his false prophets of Ba’al and Asherah, he knows he can trust in the name of YHVH to overcome the evil powers, and to prove to them who is the true God [Elohim], Creator and Master of the universe. Although Ahab and Jezebel and their warriors had been seeking to kill Elijah, he now confronts his enemies boldly and challenges their false god to a duel (I Kings 18:21). He compels them to make a decision as to whom they will serve: YHVH or Ba’al. This is a decision we must all make at some point in our lives, because there is no middle ground – either we serve the world (Satan and his kingdom of darkness) or the true God, YHVH.

In the familiar story of the confrontation between good and evil, Ba’al and YHVH, there is no contest of course, and YHVH is victorious. Elijah tells the false prophets to call on the name of their gods, and says that he will call on the name of his God (I Kings 18:24). Working through Elijah, YHVH then graphically demonstrates that God’s name is unique and set apart (kadosh – holy) from everything else in the universe. Elijah first built an altar and dedicated it to YHVH, then asked YHVH to show the people that he was the only true God, and prayed that He would turn their hearts back to Him (I Kings 18:46-37). YHVH then answered Elijah’s prayer convincingly by sending fire from heaven to burn up not only the wood and the sacrificial bull, but also the water in the trench around the altar (I Kings 18:38).

The response of the people was to immediately prostrate themselves on the ground and start worshipping the true God, Yehovah: “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” (I Kings 18:39). The people’s declaration is even more powerful when translated directly from the Hebrew, as they said: Yehovah, He is the God [Elohim]; Yehovah, He is the God [Elohim]. Since they had previously been worshipping many (false) gods, the key point of their declaration is that Yehovah is the one and only true God of the universe, set apart (holy) from the world and all other false gods!

There is power in the name Yehovah. His name is to be revered and praised, just as He is revered and praised. We can trust in Yehovah and in His name to protect us and provide for us. We can call on His name with confidence, and He wants us to be set apart from the world as He is set apart (holy).