Lord in place of the divine name

Posted on 2014/03/13 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

Substitutions Kyrios (Lord) and Theos (God)

Page from the Dutch Professorenbijbel (“Professors Bible”), a translation of the Latin Vulgate of the Books of the New Testament. This part, covering the Pentateuch, was published in 1904. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

During the second or third century of the Common Era, the scribes substituted the words Ky′ri·os (Lord) and The·os′ (God) for the divine name, Jehovah, in copies of the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Other translations, such as the Latin Vulgate, the Douay Version (based on the Vulgate), and the King James Version, as well as numerous modern translations (NE, AT, RS, NIV, TEV, NAB), followed a similar practice. The divine name was replaced by the terms “God” and “Lord,” generally in all-capital letters in English to indicate the substitution for the Tetragrammaton, or divine name.

In departing from this practice, the translation committee of the American Standard Version of 1901 stated:

“The American Revisers, after a careful consideration, were brought to the unanimous conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine Name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English or any other version of the Old Testament, as it fortunately does not in the numerous versions made by modern missionaries. . . . This personal name [Jehovah], with its wealth of sacred associations, is now restored to the place in the sacred text to which it has an unquestionable claim.”—AS preface, p. iv.

The Tetragrammaton rendered into a name

A number of translations since then (An, JB [English and French], NC, BC [both in Spanish], and others) have consistently rendered the Tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” or have used a similar form.

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriputres (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Under the heading Jehovah (In the Christian Greek Scriptures), evidence is also presented to show that the divine name, Jehovah, was used in the original writings of the Christian Greek Scriptures, from Matthew to Revelation. On this basis, the New World Translation, used throughout this work, has restored the divine name in its translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, doing so a total of 237 times. Other translations had made similar restorations, particularly when translating the Christian Greek Scriptures into Hebrew.

When discussing “Restoring the Divine Name,” the New World Bible Translation Committee states:

“To know where the divine name was replaced by the Greek words Κύριος and Θεός, we have determined where the inspired Christian writers have quoted verses, passages and expressions from the Hebrew Scriptures and then we have referred back to the Hebrew text to ascertain whether the divine name appears there. In this way we determined the identity to give Ky′ri·os and The·os′ and the personality with which to clothe them.”

Explaining further, the Committee said:

“To avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis, we have been most cautious about rendering the divine name in the Christian Greek Scriptures, always carefully considering the Hebrew Scriptures as a background. We have looked for agreement from the Hebrew versions to confirm our rendering.”

Such agreement from Hebrew versions exists in all the 237 places that the New World Bible Translation Committee has rendered the divine name in the body of its translation. — NW appendix, pp. 1564-1566.

To impede spreading the name of God

Already from the beginning of times there were people who did not like to spread the name of the Divine Creator. We should all be aware nothing has changed Who created all wonders of nature. Several people do everything to have the Name of the Divine Creator not be known. they would not like to see others having enjoying a close relationship with Him who is the Sovereign Master.

We do know that the world speaks about a lot of gods. We also should come to recognise that there is an evil foe. The Bible explains:

“The god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.”

The god of this present ungodly world is also called “Satan“, which means the “Adversary“. There are many adversaries of God in this world. They not only blaspheme the Name of God. They want to keep you in darkness so that your heart will not be illuminated with “the glorious knowledge of God.”

“Satan” or the adversary does not want you to know Jehovah by name. How, though, does Satan blind people’s minds?

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy that was shown us, we do not give up. 2 But we have renounced the shameful, underhanded things, not walking with cunning or adulterating the word of God;+ but by making the truth manifest, we recommend ourselves to every human conscience in the sight of God.+ 3 If, in fact, the good news we declare is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, 4 among whom the god of this system of things*+ has blinded the minds of the unbelievers,+ so that the illumination* of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God,+ might not shine through.+5 For we are preaching, not about ourselves, but about Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God is the one who said: “Let the light shine out of darkness,”+ and he has shone on our hearts to illuminate them+ with the glorious knowledge of God by the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:1-4-6).

Blinding the world

The gods of this world blind many and the adversaries of God managed to get far by creating a lot of confusion in people’s mind. Certainly with taking away the Name of God out of the Holy Bible or the Holy Scriptures they managed it that many became so confused that they could not see clear any more in the different characters of figures in the Bible. seeing at so many places the world ‘lord’ they do not know any more of which lord is been spoken. As such “Satan” has also used false religion to hinder people from coming to know God by name.
For example, in ancient times some Jews chose to ignore the inspired Scriptures in favour of tradition that called for avoiding the use of God’s name. By the first centuries of our Common Era, Jewish public readers had evidently been instructed, not to read God’s name as it appeared in their Holy Scriptures, but to substitute the word ʼAdho·nai′, meaning “Lord.” Doubtless, this practice contributed to a tragic decline in spirituality.

Jesus making the Name of his Father known

Many lost out on the benefits of a close personal relationship with God.
What, though, about Jesus?
What was his attitude toward Jehovah’s name?

Jesus declared in prayer to his Father:

“I have made your name known . . . and will make it known.” (John 17:26)

Jesus would undoubtedly have pronounced God’s name on numerous occasions when he read, quoted, or explained portions of the Hebrew Scriptures containing that important name. Jesus would thus have used God’s name just as freely as all the prophets did before him. If any Jews were already avoiding the use of God’s name during the time of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus would certainly not have followed their tradition. He strongly criticized the religious leaders when he said to them:

“You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.” (Matthew 15:6).

We should wonder if we would like to take the tradition of those Jews or certain churches, and continue not using the Name of God.

Continuation of the use of God’s Name

Faithful followers of Jesus continued to make God’s name known after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus’ apostles and disciples continued in the tradition of their master teacher and used God’s name in their inspired writings.

Professor Howard notes:

“When the Septuagint which the New Testament church used and quoted contained the Hebrew form of the divine name, the New Testament writers no doubt included the Tetragrammaton in their quotations.”

At Pentecost 33 C.E., the very day the Christian congregation was formed, the apostle Peter, quoting from a prophecy of Joel, said to a multitude of Jews and proselytes:

“Everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

32 And it must occur that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe;+ for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will prove to be the escaped ones,+ just as Jehovah has said, and in among the survivors,* whom Jehovah is calling.”*+ (Joel 2:32)

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah* will be saved.”+ (Romans 10:13)

Calling onto lords

All those translations where is only written ” that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” do not give a clear picture which lord has to be called on. Translations which use: “whoever calls on the name of ADONAI will be saved.’” however do not leave a doubt. In the early 20th century Bible translations in case the Name of God was not used they mostly placed full capitals, so that people still could see that it was the Lord God been spoken of and not the Lord Jesus Christ. But nearing the end of the 20th century the use of capitals was put aside and people could not see any difference between the Lord God Jehovah (Lord of Lord of lords) or His son the Lord of lords or Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ.

Many miraculously shaped in their mother’s womb, got their cells and their DNA sown by the Most High Creator of heaven and earth. You would think they would like to know the Founder of their being and to get a good relation with Him. For building a good relation we do have to come to know the person very well. And when we do really love somebody we do use his or her name and not a detached “sir”, “lord” or “madam” or “misses”.

Early Christians helped people from many nations to come to know Jehovah by name. Thus, in a meeting of the apostles and older men in Jerusalem, the disciple James said:

“God . . . turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14).

Satan sowing apostasy by no proper name

Nevertheless, the enemy of God’s name did not give up. Once the apostles were dead, the opponents of God, the wicked ones and His enemies, wasted no time in sowing apostasy.

38 the field is the world.+ As for the fine seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one,+39 and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things,* and the reapers are angels.(Matthew 13:38, 39)

2 However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you.+ These will quietly bring in destructive sects, and they will even disown the owner who bought them,+ bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)

For example, the nominal Christian writer Justin Martyr was born about the time John, the last of the apostles, died. Yet, Justin repeatedly insisted in his writings that the Provider of all things is

“a God who is called by no proper name.”

Replacing the Name

When apostate Christians made copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures, they evidently took Jehovah’s personal name out of the text and substituted Ky′ri·os, the Greek word for “Lord.” The Hebrew Scriptures did not fare any better. No longer reading God’s name aloud, apostate Jewish scribes replaced the divine name in their Scriptures with ʼAdho·nai′ more than 130 times. The influential translation of the Bible into Latin that was completed by Jerome in 405 C.E. and that came to be called the Vulgate similarly omitted the personal name of God.

Vulgate Clementine, edition from 1714 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, scholars are aware that Jehovah’s personal name appears some 7,000 times in the Bible. Thus, some widely used translations, such as the Catholic Jerusalem Bible, the Catholic La Biblia Latinoamérica in Spanish, and the popular Reina-Valera version, also in Spanish, freely use God’s personal name. Some translations render God’s name “Yahweh.”

Sadly, many churches that sponsor Bible translations pressure scholars into omitting God’s name from their translations of the Bible. For example, in a letter dated June 29, 2008, to presidents of Catholic bishops’ conferences, the Vatican stated:

“In recent years the practice has crept in of pronouncing the God of Israel’s proper name.”

The letter gives this pointed direction:

“The name of God . . . is neither to be used or pronounced.”

Furthermore,

“for the translation of the Biblical text in modern languages, . . . the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: ‘Lord.’”

Clearly, this Vatican directive is aimed at eliminating the use of God’s name.

Protestants have been no less disrespectful in their treatment of Jehovah’s name. A spokesman for the Protestant-sponsored New International Version, published in English in 1978, wrote:

“Jehovah is a distinctive name for God and ideally we should have used it. But we put 2¹⁄4 million dollars into this translation and a sure way of throwing that down the drain is to translate, for example, Psalm 23 as, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd.’”

In addition, churches have hindered Latin Americans from knowing God by name. Steven Voth, a translation consultant for the United Bible Societies (UBS), writes:

“One of the ongoing debates in Latin American Protestant circles revolves around the use of the name Jehová . . . Interestingly enough, a very large and growing neo-pentecostal church . . . said they wanted a Reina-Valera 1960 edition, but without the name Jehová. Instead, they wanted the word Señor [Lord].”

According to Voth, the UBS rejected this request at first but later gave in and published an edition of the Reina-Valera Bible “without the word Jehová.”

Deleting God’s name from his written Word and replacing it with “Lord” hinders readers from truly knowing who God is. Such a substitution creates confusion.
For example, a reader may not be able to discern whether the term “Lord” refers to Jehovah or to his Son, Jesus. Thus, in the scripture in which the apostle Peter quotes David as saying:

“Jehovah said to my Lord [the resurrected Jesus]: ‘Sit at my right hand,’”

many Bible translations read:

“The Lord said to my Lord.” (Acts 2:34, NIV)

In addition, David Clines, in his essay “Yahweh and the God of Christian Theology,” points out:

“One result of the absence of Yahweh from Christian consciousness has been the tendency to focus on the person of Christ.”

Thus, many churchgoers are hardly aware that the true God to whom Jesus directed his prayers is a Person with a name — Jehovah.

Learn to know and use God His Name

You may be convinced that it does not really matter, but did you ever thought it perhaps could be really very important. those who pray ‘the Lord’s prayer’ did they ever think what it would mean to “hallow God His Name”?

As it was important for the son of God, Jeshua (Jesus Christ) to have people get to know his Father’s Name, it is still important today that as many people as possible come to get to know the Name of the Most High God. It is true our world still may see a war going on against the divine name and against those who like to use the Name of God. The adversary of God has cleverly used false religion in the process. However, the reality is that no power in heaven or on earth can stop the Sovereign Lord Jehovah from making His name known to those who want to know the truth about him and his glorious purpose for faithful humans.

If you are interested in getting to know more about that God with His special or set-apart (holy) name, we would be pleased to come to talk with you are to bring you in contact with people who could give you a Bible study. May we first advice you to start yourself putting all doctrines you might have learned in your early church life or of which you might have heard, to put them away, to have an open mind to receive the words of the scriptures like they come to you.

To have not to many difficulties to know about whom is spoken, you best use a Bible where the Name of God is used, either by the placing of the Tetragammaton or by the Name Jehovah or Yahweh. choosing a Bible with Jehovah His name in it, you soon will get the picture and shall come to understand who is who.

Please do not hesitate to ask us question should they arise, and make an effort to regularly read the Bible, the Word of God.

Preceding: Lord and owner

Tetragrammaton in Phoenician (1100 BC to 300 CE), Aramaic (10th Century BC to 0) and modern Hebrew scripts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Of interest:

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From other websites:

Humbled in my bed.
I truly owe it all to Him. He has given me so much. So much.All I know About Divine Healing
While there do seem to be particular individuals that the Lord provides the gift of healing to on a more regular basis it seems that healing in the Christian church is more about corporate faith than it is about individual faith. There is also a somewhat inexplicable nature to who gets healed and who does not get healed and the reasons why healing does or does not occur.
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I know it doesn’t make sense to cooperate with a supreme being who has no need of you. But while I have been very perplexed by the role of Sovereignty in Divine healing I have also come to recognize the role of human agency. That God has a specific Will that people can know and act on, and if they do not act upon will not happen, is a rather strange concept to a Calvinist. Yet, again and again I have seen this principle demonstrated in the healing ministry.
Why Is God’s Name Missing From Many Bibles ?
God does not need to be distinguished from other gods.
Some translators have made this statement. Who are we to say that God doesn’t need a name ? God deemed it necessary to name all the stars in the heavens, and to place his name upon people that he liked, and upon places that were important to him. His own word the Bible – emphasizes the importance of a name. The translators of the Bible did not remove Satan’s name from the Bible – nor did they remove the names of numerous false gods from the Bible.“non-superstitious Jewish translators always favored the name Jehovah in their translations of the Bible.
On the other hand one can note that there is NO Jewish translation of the Bible with Yahweh.”
–M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar, specialist of the Tetragram; president of the Association Biblique de Recherche d’Anciens Manuscrits
I Love You Jehovah
Jehovah you’re name I’ll defend I’ll declare all your wonders right down to the end You’re the light of my life the breath of my days the beauty of children the warmth of sun’s rays You give me great hope when life’s looking bleak the words in your Bible of wisdom they speak Oh Jehovah […]“Jehovah” and “Jehoshua”
Call upon ”Jehovah” and His Saviour The Jews looked forward to a Jewish Messiah that would be sent to them by Jehovah God. This Messiah would bring Salvation to them. He was to be Jehovah’s means of Salvation – hence, he would bear the name “Jehoshua”which means Jehovah’s Salvation. All this information was snuffed out by the Romans when they attempted to blot out the Jewish Connections to Christ.
The Romans made Christianity their state religion shortly after the Apostles died. The Romans corrupted Christianity to a great degree, by destroying Christ’s connections to Judaism and replacing them with pagan religious teachings and holidays.
Correctores were hired to alter the bible in thousands of places – in an attempt to distance Christ from his Jewish heritage. The name of Jehovah was replaced by “LORD” or “GOD”. Other scriptures were also deleted, added or altered in order to support the new state religion.

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ΠΙΠΙ and the Use of Hebrew in Greek Manuscripts (glanier.wordpress.com)
One of the most fascinating parts of the seminar involved reading an old fragment of the Greek translation of Deuteronomy 31, during which one of the professors in attendance made what we thought was a joke about early Christians misreading the name for the LORD in the synagogue and saying “Pipi.” Turns out…he wasn’t joking. The reason behind this embarrassing mistake provides a nice little (short) tour into the world of scribal habits and ancient manuscripts.
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According to Jewish tradition as later codified in the Mishnah (specifically the Halakha), when the Hebrew Bible was read in the synagogue by Jews – and possibly even earlier in the first temple period, though that is debated – the covenant name of God was usually not pronounced (according to some Jewish writings, YHWH could be spoken, or, rather, sung, in some circumstances, such as priestly prayer or when reciting the Numbers 6 benediction). Rather, they substituted “Adonai” any time YHWH appeared in the text, and if they needed to refer to YHWH as the written name, they usually called it “HaShem” (The Name). Honoring this tradition, the Masoretes inserted the vowels for “Adonai” everywhere YHWH appeared, functioning as a sort of global “replace-all” to indicate what should be read aloud (qere) from the written text (kethiv).
How Accurate is the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures? (illustrationstoencourage.wordpress.com)
Prior to the release of the New World Translation (NWT), Jehovah’s Witnesses generally used theKing James Version or the American Standard Version of the Bible. Early literature produced by the Witnesses quotes these versions and uses them for source documentation. Because of the fact these versions employed the use of the English language in its antiquated form, a need arose to have a modern translation that updated such dated vernacular.
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Consider, it was not merely by chance that Jesus taught his followers to put God’s name first in their prayers. (John 6:9) That name was clearly of crucial importance to him, since he mentioned it repeatedly in his very own prayers. On one occasion when he was praying publicly to God, Jesus was heard to say, “Father, glorify your name!” And God himself answered, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (John 12:28, the Jerusalem Bible.) This is one of the three recorded times that God himself spoke directly from the heavens to the earth. Clearly, an important issue.
Has anyone else noticed the profound disrespect (thevoiceofmary.wordpress.com)
Expressions such as G..d..n are commonly used in all, or most languages, everyday. This kind of abusive talk demeans Jehovah and his grand name. It should reflect on our lack of accurate knowledge; and a flagrant contempt for Jehovah and his magnificent name. Who among us would appreciate the name of a loved-one used in this insulting context? God has seen his name and reputation sullied over the centuries.Names designate and distinguish us from others. Our name identifies us as this specific individual, with these particular qualities. It is one of the most important ways a person is known and recognized. His name, Jehovah represents him. Jehovah is the name of the one true God. God’s name was chosen by him. For an individual to know God and all that his name means and represents, signifies more than a mere acquaintance with the word. (1Chron. 6:33) It actually means knowing the person—-his purposes, activities and qualities as revealed in his word.

When people use titles such as; God, Lord, Dios, or Theo instead of using his personal name, Jehovah becomes devoid of distinction and identity, as the rightful sovereign of the universe. They mistakenly believe these words are God’s name. God spelled with a capitol “G,” is defined as a being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, originator and ruler of the universe. He is the principle object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions; also defined as a very handsome man and/or a powerful ruler or despot. Does anyone see the abject manner in which our loving Father is treated; the desecration of his holy name.
The Divine Name and Greek Translation (larryhurtado.wordpress.com)
In comments to my previous posting (about some recently published Oxyrhynchus papyri), the question was raised about how the divine name (YHWH; יהוה) was handled in earliest Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures. In Septuagint manuscripts (dating from ca. 3rd century CE and later), “Kyrios” (Greek: “Lord”) is used rather frequently. But some have proposed that the earliest practice was fairly consistently to translate YHWH with “Kyrios” (κυριος), others that the Hebrew divine name was initially rendered phonetically as ΙΑΩ (“Iao”), and others that the divine name was originally retained in Hebrew characters. To my knowledge, the most recent discussion of the matter is the recent journal article by Martin Rösel, “The Reading and Translation of the Divine Name in the Masoretic Tradition and the Greek Pentateuch,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 31 (2007): 411-28.
What’s in a name? (quest4light.net)
Hidden in plain sight from the reader of the English translations of the Bible are several linguistic nuances that range from how the shaping of the letters are to the number of letters in a parshat to the different names used for the Almighty. You don’t even have to go very far – in the book of Genesis the following names are used – Elohim, YHVH, YHVH Elohim, El Shaddai, and Yah. Some attribute this to multiple authors whose works were compiled and redacted numerous times before the canon was sealed and others believe that the various names are in relation to the different attributes of God. The 2 most commonly used names in Jewish Scripture (aka Old Testament) are Elohim and YHVH. These names have different meanings and I will focus on these 2 names for now.
I AM…………………….The name of God and endless potential. (cancercuredmylife.wordpress.com)
I Am that I Am (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, ʾehyeh ʾašer ʾehyeh [ʔehˈje ʔaˈʃer ʔehˈje]) is a common English translation (JPS among others) of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible whenMoses asked for his name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Torah. Hayah means “existed” or “was” in Hebrew; “ehyeh” is the first person singular imperfect form and is usually translated in English Bibles as “I will be” (or “I shall be”), for example, at Exodus 3:12. Ehyeh asher ehyeh literally translates as “I Will Be What I Will Be”, with attendant theological and mystical implications in Jewish tradition. However, in most English Bibles, this phrase is rendered as I am that I am.”^[1]
How Factual is the Bible? (glimpsesofgeula.wordpress.com)
Shore’s book Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew offers dozens of incidents in which the Hebrew words in the Bible offer hidden information about the objects or people they represent, information which, in many cases, couldn’t have been known or measured until modern times.“This is not gematria,” Shore says. “Gematria, adopted by rabbis and Jewish Bible interpreters, suggests that if two Hebrew words share the same numerical value, there’s then a ‘secret’ that binds them together. By contrast, the Hebrew word, ‘heraion‘ (pregnancy) has the same numerical value as the duration of human pregnancy, 271 days.”
The Bible Simplified….. (jesusisms.wordpress.com)
1) So many pages 2) Those seemingly endless pages are sooooo thin. 3) It seems difficult to read 4) Seems difficult to understand. Etc Etc Etc….The thing is, while all of those and more may seem or even possibly be true….the Truth is, the more you Keep On reading it, Keep On seeking its information, the more the above intimidating distractions, which satan uses to discourage you with, will disappear and the information comes out like a flaming torch of light.
Names of God in Judaism: EMET excerpt selected by אלוה אל (powersthatbeat.wordpress.com)
The Hebrew letters are named Yod-Heh-Waw-Heh: יהוה; note that Hebrew is written from right to left, rather than left to right as in English. In English it is written as YHWH, YHVH, or JHVH depending on the transliteration convention that is used. The Tetragrammaton was written in contrasting Paleo-Hebrew characters in some of the oldest surviving square Aramaic Hebrew texts, and it is speculated that it was, even at that period, read as Adonai, “My Lord“, when encountered.According to Jewish tradition, in appearance, YHWH is the third person singular imperfect of the verb “to be”, meaning, therefore, “God is,” or “God will be” or, perhaps, “God lives”. This explanation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — “I am”.
Of Gods and Languages: On “When God Spoke Greek” (lareviewofbooks.org)
These days the Christian Bible is usually regarded as the Greek New Testament added to the Old Testament, which is a reordering of the Hebrew Bible. If we read the Bible in English, we do so in the assurance that the first part is soundly translated from the Hebrew and the second from the Greek. Catholics include some Jewish Apocrypha, those Scriptures without Hebrew originals (and several most likely composed in Greek anyway), while Protestants reject them.

The wrong hero

Posted on 2011/09/29 by Christadelphians

In the Western World we can find people who love to honour a creator that is far beyond any human person. In the East people worship other gods, but also do have three or two headed divinities. The clergy and followers of the many sects or cults of Christendom worship also such more than one in one God, but they prefer not to give them a specific name. A lot of those worshippers give preference to have a nameless triune lord or do not know the name of their God. though the one who created the earth, heaven and everything around us, has a name that He picked out Himself – YaHuWhah = Jehovah.

It is ‘that god’, the God of all, Jehovah the Elohim, who is the Maker of everything, the Provider, the Father of us all.

Madonna of humility by Fra Angelico, c. 1430. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nearly two thousand years ago a son to Him was born, who was taken by many to be their god. For them that man of Nazareth became their Hero who they could worship like the vast majority of people prefer to worship some one. Worshipping some one or something is as old as the street. We can find Hindu gods but to us mostly the Germanic or Celtic gods are know. People also know folks who like to worship Allah, Buddha, Jesus; Mary, the mother of Jesus, but even money and sex do not escape the line of fame. Mostly a name is given to the subject to be worshipped, but in Christendom we can find also a nameless lord; almost anything but Jehovah. Then, these very people who ignore Jehovah wonder why He ignores them.

Though the Holy Scriptures, they say they take as their guide, tell us enough about the Lord of lords, His Name and His position as well what He wants. But it looks like most of the people do not read those Book of Books because they prefer to read the theological works of people from the past and present. The main character of the Biblical Books is YHWH or Jehovah, the Elohim Hashem, who explained how He wanted to be worshipped and we have His directions written down in the Bible so that future generations can follow this Spirit who has given us enough information so that we can find Him and understand Him.

“I have let Myself be inquired of, not by those who asked; I was found, not by those who sought Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation not calling on My Name.” (Isaiah 65:1 The Scriptures 1998+)

“Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 The Scriptures 1998+)

To those who really want to follow God and give honour to the right persons, it is not always made easy, because through history some translators and copyists have altered and changed the
wording of various scriptures in order to support false beliefs such as the Trinity Dogma. That happened as they did not seem to be afraid for the important warning that nothing should be to add to, nor taken away from the words of the Holy Scriptures.

“For I witness to everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, Elohim shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Elohim shall take away his part from the Book of Life, and out of the set-apart city, which are written in this Book. ” (Revelation 22:18-19 The Scriptures 1998+)

The confusion wanted to be created could by the removing of Gods Name easily be hold between two heroes of the Bible, namely the Father of the Old Testament (Jehovah God) and the son of the New Testament (Jeshua/Jesus son of God). According to this transfer could one furrow each other easier to fall in the trap of the notion “God the son“. The principle of the Holy Trinity could then be kept more easily. The omitting of the Name of God or the changing of the word-order opened the doors to mis-interpretation or mistranslation, errors in textual transmission which could give grounds to the idea of the imposed Trinity doctrine. Added texts like the one not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century for 1 John 5:8 where late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify “in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth”. If you look carefully in the translation you can even sometimes find outright forgery. These can often be exposed by even a cursory glance at an English/Greek interlinear Bible or a Greek concordance.

Luckily, but also strangely enough, God’s Word has been amazingly well preserved, no matter what people tried to do with it to destroy it or to bring it in oblivion. In the world there are many translations and/or versions available and people can compare those translations and the wording used in it. Comparisons between the English versions and the oldest existing manuscripts (The Old Testament‘s “Dead Sea Scrolls” date to around 100 B.C., and the oldest New Testament fragments date to around A.D. 120!), prove that the vast majority of the original meaning is still intact and easily perceivable from most any Bible by the average Christian. So if you know which word is been used in a translation for a certain thing or person, you always can find the clue to understand it fully. The Truth comes always to the forefront, no matter which version you use. So, please do take up your favourite Bible translation and read it from begin to end. Then you shall be able, if you read carefully and listen to the Words of the Holy Scriptures, to find all solutions and sea clear no matter which fog churches want to spread over the world.

You shall be able to recognise the characters presented in the different Books of the Bible. Their positive as well as their negative points shall become visible. You also shall be able to see the relation between all the figures. You shall get to know all the heroes of the past and of the People of God, Israel.

One of the most mistaken heroes is Jesus or Jeshua/Jashua/Jehoshua. In the Bible’s second part, the New Testament, we can find the story of his life. there we can find that in Bethlehem Jesus of Nazareth was born. So he had a beginning and had to grow up. He lived on this earth and died to redeem mankind from the curse of sin brought on by the first man, Adam. But this son, Jesus Christ was not God himself, but fully 100% man, the perfect agent and representative of God, one who always did his father’s will, and could therefore rightfully say “He who has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9). Because in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, we can see several characteristics of his Father.

In about 68 places we are told that Jesus is the son of the Father, our Hashem Elohim God. Being a child of someone does not make it in being the same person as the father, even when there are so many things the same as that person. As we can look like our father and do like our father, it does not make us an incarnation of our father. Even when people say “He is just his father”, it does not mean that we are the father.

To “beget” something means to “give rise to” it, to “generate” some new thing out of nothing. If God begat Jesus, then God was the source of Jesus’ “beginning”, who could not have been around until he was “begotten“. Also along these same lines, contrary to the statement that Jesus was part of the Trinity as “God the Son” through all eternity, Luke said that the very reason he “shall be (future tense) called the son of God” would be his divine conception and his birth from Mary (Miriam) (Luke 1:35). So if this was to be the reason he would thereafter be called the Son of God, then he was not the Son of God before his birth. We might also consider the implications of the word “birth” in places such as Matthew 1:18. It is the Greek word “gennesis”, which means “beginning”.

While Jesus was on earth he truly worshipped God, and God listened to his prayers.

” who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His reverent fear, though being a Son, He learned obedience by what He suffered. ” (Hebrews 5:7-8 The Scriptures 1998+)

The Television serial saga Heroes about people all over the world discovering that they have superpowers and trying to deal with how this change affects their lives is as fictitious as giving Jesus superpowers of his own. A hero (heroine) (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs), in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. Some people take it that Jesus was half man half God. they do seem to forget that God is a spirit who can not die, while Jesus really died. Making Jesus not just as a god but as The God who is eternal would take the essence of his action away. Making him the God of gods, would not give him the full honour of his and his Fathers saying.

Jesus from the Deesis Mosaic (Photo credit: jakebouma)

Jesus was not exactly a hero in the sense of “ἥρως” (heros), “hero, warrior” but he did something enormous for humankind. His deed of giving his self for all sinners was great, because he did it voluntary and for his Father to whom he obeyed. In the literal sense literally “protector” or “defender” he came up for those who could not speak up, the poor ones, the sinful ones, the illiterate, the ones who are willing to go into the footsteps of the son of God. Jesus has become the defender of man and women and so can be our hero too. The Indo-European root of Hero is *ser meaning “to protect” and that is what Jesus did with his blood-offering. By his action, and following his lessons, we are protected and can count on it to be saved. The Greek word Hērōs “is akin to” the Latin seruāre, meaning to safeguard and that is what Jesus is wiling to do.

Osiris, Prometheus, Theseus, Dionysus, Moses, Buddha may be the heroes of very ancient times. Rabindranath Tagore, Mohandas, Karamchand Gandhi, Che Guevara, Nelson Mandela, Bob Dylan, a..o. could be heroes who played a key role in a whole generation some years ago. Today there are other new heroes and persons who are given the role of being the god of this or that. The real heroes are the modest ones who never claim to be Thé Hero. Jesus also never claimed to be the hero nor a god or the God. He knew that he knew less than his Father and that everything what he did was done by the Father, who had revealed His name also to His son.

We find about two thousand years ago Yahshua/Jehsua/Jeshua Jesus the Messiah, made lower than the angels for the suffering of death, but by doing this heroic deed he earned to be crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the messengers, יהושע, because of the suffering of death crowned with esteem and respect, that by the favour of Elohim He should taste death for everyone. ” (Hebrews 2:9 The Scriptures 1998+)

“And I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Set-apart Father, guard them in Your Name which You have given Me, so that they might be one, as We are. (John 17:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

“When I was with them in the world, I was guarding them in Your Name which You have given Me, and I watched over them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be filled.” (John 17:12 The Scriptures 1998+)

“As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. (John 17:18 The Scriptures 1998+)

“I have much to say and to judge concerning you. But He who sent Me is true, and what I heard from Him, these Words I speak to the world.” They did not know that He spoke to them of the Father. So יהושע said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Ad?am, then you shall know that I am He, and that I do none at all of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, these words I speak. “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8:26-29 The Scriptures 1998+)

“יהושע {Jeshua} said to her, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Elohim and your Elohim.’ ” (John 20:17 The Scriptures 1998+)

“There were indeed many other signs that יהושע did in the presence of His taught ones, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you believe that יהושע is the Messiah, the Son of Elohim,1 and that, believing, you might possess life in His Name. Footnote: 1See Mt. 16:16. “(John 20:30-31 The Scriptures 1998+)

“You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you did love Me, you would have rejoiced that I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. “And now I have told you before it takes place, that when it does take place, you shall believe. (John 14:28-29 The Scriptures 1998+)

“For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah יהושע, who, being in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a matter to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and came to be in the likeness of men. And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even of a stake. Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of יהושע every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 The Scriptures 1998+)

“And I wish you to know that the head of every man is the Messiah, and the head of woman is the man, and the head of Messiah is Elohim. ” (1 Corinthians 11:3 The Scriptures 1998+)

This hero is even going to be so humble and honest to give the Kingdom of God back to his Father.

” And when all are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself shall also be subject to Him who put all under Him, in order that Elohim be all in all. ” (1 Corinthians 15:28 The Scriptures 1998+)

It is only after all the work he had done that Jesus was placed higher and received a position above all created things and persons.

“… יהושע Messiah, who, having gone into heaven, is at the right hand of Elohim, messengers and authorities and powers having been subjected to Him.” (1 Peter 3:22 The Scriptures 1998+)

You may take Jesus as your hero, but do not make him more important than he is and do not give him a higher position than he himself would want to take. Listen carefully to his words and those of his Father. In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. He also had given us his son, the Master teacher. Because in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, we better take note of what that son said.

“Elohim, having of old spoken in many portions and many ways to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by the Son, whom He has appointed heir of all, through whom also He made the ages, who being the brightness of the esteem and the exact representation of His substance, and sustaining all by the word of His power, having made a cleansing of our sins through Himself, sat down at the right hand of the Greatness on high, ” (Hebrews 1:1-3 The Scriptures 1998+)

For Jeshua/Jesus has given to us the words which his Father had given to him, we should have to known surely that this hero Jesus came out from God, and we should believe that He the Only One God, Elohim Hashem Jehovah did send him.

“I have esteemed You on the earth, having accomplished the work You have given Me that I should do. “And now, esteem Me with Yourself, Father, with the esteem which I had with You before the world was. “I have revealed Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have guarded Your Word.1 Footnote: 1See Ps. 138:2. “Now they have come to know that all You gave to Me, is from You. “Because the Words which You gave to Me, I have given to them. And they have received them, and have truly known that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I have been esteemed in them.” (John 17:4-10 The Scriptures 1998+)

The Hero Jesus is the Servant of the greatest Hero, Creator of all.

“See, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My being did delight. I shall put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall declare right-ruling to the nations.” (Matthew 12:18 The Scriptures 1998+)

Let us listen to this humble man, who did not mind becoming a servant for us all and who sits at the right hand of his Father and like Jesus obeyed always to this Father, we should listen and obey to Jesus, the son of God, and obey his Father, the Only One God Jehovah.

The Dutch version of this article can be found under: Nederlandse versie: De verkeerde held

Excerpt of the book of Exodus from the The Great Bible (entitled The Byble in Englyshe), publ. 1540. The English form Iehovah (Jehovah as the “J” stands for both I and the later J) is used for the Tetragrammaton at Exodus 6:3. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Additional literature:

Read more about and why most people in the world do not worship Jehovah and do find out who we have to give the worship to.

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Who is the True Worshipper according to Bible ? (answeringchristian.wordpress.com)
Jesus made it very clear that “True” Worshipers would be those that worshiped his Father in heaven.
What About Those Who Do Not Know The Name of God? (bereanreport.wordpress.com)
The most common question I hear among those that I share the truth of the name is “Doesn’t Yahweh know who I’m talking to? Why does it matter what I call Him, He answers me anyway?”
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I do not think there is anything wrong with calling Yahweh our Father, Master, Creator, etc. which are all fitting titles. What I think Yahweh would have a real problem with is changing His name from Yahweh to “Lord” It is extremely ironic, if not prophetic what Yahweh declared to Jeremiah when we understand that the word “Baal” means “Lord.”
God loves me – He sent me 2 Jehovah’s Witnesses (lisagodfrees.com)
Simply put, they believe that God the Father alone is God. Jesus is His Son (but not God), and the Holy Spirit is God’s force (but not God).
Rob responds to Mushtaq (jessicahof.wordpress.com)
You are probably aware various branches of Christians take different approaches in establishing the reliability of their beliefs. This also applies to the concept of the trinity. For some the fact their church tradition has established a concept as truth is adequate for them.
He Is Our Peace (devosfromthehill.org)
“I Am Who I Am” is the closest translation (or more exactly, transliteration) of a Hebrew word that cannot actually be pronounced. The closest Latin transliteration is actually YHWH. Notice, there are no vowels, only consonants. This name of God cannot be pronounced. Still in order to make this word accessible, scholars eventually added vowels and this word became Yahweh, or for some, Jehovah.

Throughout scripture, this unpronounceable name of God is used in conjunction with descriptive words to help us understand who God is.
For instance . . .

“Jehovah” Jireh – The LORD our Provider (Gen. 22:13-14)
“Jehovah” Rapha – The LORD our Healer (Exo. 15:26)
“Jehovah” Nissi -The LORD our Banner (Exo. 17:8-15)
“Jehovah” Tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6)
and of course . . . “Jehovah” Shalom – The LORD our Peace (Judges 6:24)
Creator and Blogger God 8 A Blog of a Book 2 Holy One making Scriptures Holy (bijbelvorser.wordpress.com)
The Holy One making Scriptures Holy “for I [am] Jehovah your god, and you shall sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I [am] holy. neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of swarming thing that swarms on the earth.” ( Leviticus 11:44 MKJV)
Take a walk through Amos 5 (quietbuck.wordpress.com)
So much so, it should shake a modern day Christian to the core!!!
But, alas, few will listen to YHWH. It appears that most would rather have fun and “good company” than follow our Heavenly Father above…
who needs nothing but your obedience and devotion to Him!!!

How many churches celebrate things from Halloween, Thanksgiving and from Christmas, Valentines Day through to having Easter egg hunts on Easter etc?
Is that your church? Then they are NOT teaching you properly! They are ignoring YHWH’s Word completely!

From Malachi to Jeremiah to 1Kings to Matthew and more, each book has witnesses, within their verses, showing us what our eyes must see to come out of her. Perhaps a good study into Amos will help one to witness to the lost flock.
Vision for Selah (quaystoneworship.wordpress.com)
We believe it is important to spend time worshiping and seeking the Lord together…after all, the Bible tells us that God says “where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst”. At Selah, we gather together with a heart of worship, to spend time together, in fellowship, seeking God, praising Him and praying.

The vision for Selah, is for it to become a space where people feel freely able to worship in an informal, and Christ-focused environment.
Five Minute Friday: Worship (writingcanvas.wordpress.com)
how I worship, or I how I look, is not a grading of my relationship with God.
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It can be scary when we follow others, that almost become like our idols in the way Christians should be rather than how our Father God wants us to be.

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