This thread was inspired by @Aunty Jane. So I want to give a shut out to her insightful comments in other threads?
The name of man is not Man and the name of god is not God. Both man and god refer to general forms or species of life. Individual men and individual gods have unique personal names, e.g., Aristotle and Zeus. The one true god’s personal name has been removed from the Bible - for whatever motivation - resulting in blurring what is clearly distinct, often rendering his name with the word, capitalized "LORD" with the dozens of lowercase ‘lords’ that are in the Bible, among which Jesus is one. However, the word lord is a title not a name.
God’s personal name is in Scripture some 5,000 times – and was systematically removed. (The NOG translation, Names of God translation, put it right.) Imagine how upset any author would be if you removed his name from his book? I do imagine God is not too happy with this act by his children and it makes a mockery of what Jesus said in Mat 6:9, hallowed be thy name, KJV.
The NLT renders it may your name be kept holy. ‘Keeping it holy’ does not mean removing it entirely. It started off innocent enough in the ancient culture of OT times. So, concerned about violating the commandment to not use the LORD’s name in vain, they prohibited using it at all and made the substitution to 'Adonai.' However, in 21st century America, we will adhere to Scriptural purity, obey Christ in keeping God’s name holy by keeping his name, YHWH (Yahweh), intact.
THE GREAT ‘I AM’
This kind of reminds me of a quote by Muhammad Ali. A certain middle school was the greatest because he went there. So, this establishes greatness by who attended, as opposed to there being anything special about the school in question.
Likewise, there is no ‘great I am’ in Scripture and neither God nor Jesus ever actually said it. In answering Moses’ question, God 1st articulated his eternal nature. (This is why the VOICE translation uses the term ‘eternal’ for god.) There is something lost in the Hebrew to English translation of the indefinite verb of existing, to be. Who Moses is speaking to in Ex 3:14 is eternal, which differentiated him from other known gods of various regions, who were born and died in many cases. However, being eternal is a property of existence, not a personal name.
The Complete Jewish Bible renders the Hebrew as precisely as possible to English to ‘I am/will be what I am/will be.’ But thank God there is the definitive verse 15.
God explicitly tells Moses his name is Yahweh, this is his name forever, and how he is to he remembered. Trinitarian translators made us forget - or prevented us from ever knowing - God’s hallowed name that Jesus explicitly told us to keep holy.
The Suffering Servant who will redeem many, prophesied by Isaiah has a personal name, Jesus. God has a personal name that is hallowed and is not Jesus but Yahweh. NOTE: Ex 3:15 does not say in 1700 years, I’ll change my name or go by 2 names. And Ex 3:15 certainly does not say God will go by 3 names.
THE NAMELESS HOLY SPIRIT
Who is talking to Moses in Ex 3:15? “God,” in his entirety, in his wholeness, in his unitarian nature. This God has a name and his servant has a different name. This is because they are 2 beings that exist separately. When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6, he was on Earth and God, who we relate to as Father, is in heaven. Separate.
God has characteristics, attributes of existence. One attribute is power and glory beyond our comprehension. However, this power is tempered by his other attributes, namely his loving and merciful spirit. None of God’s attributes constitute a different person. And this explains why his spirit does not have a personal name. Have you ever thought of that before?
The name of man is not Man and the name of god is not God. Both man and god refer to general forms or species of life. Individual men and individual gods have unique personal names, e.g., Aristotle and Zeus. The one true god’s personal name has been removed from the Bible - for whatever motivation - resulting in blurring what is clearly distinct, often rendering his name with the word, capitalized "LORD" with the dozens of lowercase ‘lords’ that are in the Bible, among which Jesus is one. However, the word lord is a title not a name.
God’s personal name is in Scripture some 5,000 times – and was systematically removed. (The NOG translation, Names of God translation, put it right.) Imagine how upset any author would be if you removed his name from his book? I do imagine God is not too happy with this act by his children and it makes a mockery of what Jesus said in Mat 6:9, hallowed be thy name, KJV.
The NLT renders it may your name be kept holy. ‘Keeping it holy’ does not mean removing it entirely. It started off innocent enough in the ancient culture of OT times. So, concerned about violating the commandment to not use the LORD’s name in vain, they prohibited using it at all and made the substitution to 'Adonai.' However, in 21st century America, we will adhere to Scriptural purity, obey Christ in keeping God’s name holy by keeping his name, YHWH (Yahweh), intact.
THE GREAT ‘I AM’
This kind of reminds me of a quote by Muhammad Ali. A certain middle school was the greatest because he went there. So, this establishes greatness by who attended, as opposed to there being anything special about the school in question.
Likewise, there is no ‘great I am’ in Scripture and neither God nor Jesus ever actually said it. In answering Moses’ question, God 1st articulated his eternal nature. (This is why the VOICE translation uses the term ‘eternal’ for god.) There is something lost in the Hebrew to English translation of the indefinite verb of existing, to be. Who Moses is speaking to in Ex 3:14 is eternal, which differentiated him from other known gods of various regions, who were born and died in many cases. However, being eternal is a property of existence, not a personal name.
The Complete Jewish Bible renders the Hebrew as precisely as possible to English to ‘I am/will be what I am/will be.’ But thank God there is the definitive verse 15.
13 Moshe said to God, “Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” 14 God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.’” 15 God said further to Moshe, “Say this to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.
Exodus 3:14-15, CJB
Exodus 3:14-15, CJB
God explicitly tells Moses his name is Yahweh, this is his name forever, and how he is to he remembered. Trinitarian translators made us forget - or prevented us from ever knowing - God’s hallowed name that Jesus explicitly told us to keep holy.
The Suffering Servant who will redeem many, prophesied by Isaiah has a personal name, Jesus. God has a personal name that is hallowed and is not Jesus but Yahweh. NOTE: Ex 3:15 does not say in 1700 years, I’ll change my name or go by 2 names. And Ex 3:15 certainly does not say God will go by 3 names.
THE NAMELESS HOLY SPIRIT
Who is talking to Moses in Ex 3:15? “God,” in his entirety, in his wholeness, in his unitarian nature. This God has a name and his servant has a different name. This is because they are 2 beings that exist separately. When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6, he was on Earth and God, who we relate to as Father, is in heaven. Separate.
God has characteristics, attributes of existence. One attribute is power and glory beyond our comprehension. However, this power is tempered by his other attributes, namely his loving and merciful spirit. None of God’s attributes constitute a different person. And this explains why his spirit does not have a personal name. Have you ever thought of that before?
- God has a personal name, Yahweh.
- The Suffering Servant, chosen by God (Acts 17:31) has a personal name, Jesus.
- But there is no personal name for God's holy spirit. Even though knowing one's name was so important to Moses and Jesus told us to keep a name holy, the absence of this challenges the claim of (attributes of God being) a personage.