WHATS IN A NAME?

          How do we know what, how or who to worship if we don't know His name?  We know that the Lord is a trinity.  Do we realize that as we call on one of His names, we are calling on all of His names?  In the Bible Jesus said that He and the Father are One.  In another place Jesus said: He, the Father and the Holy Spirit are the same One.[1]  The different names of God are given to express the various attributes of His character.

ELOHIM - אלהים - God's title or office, like president or CEO,  is a plural noun, meaning three or more. ( can mean one or more, two or more, or three or more[2] - in Genesis the meaning is three or more)  Elohim is the Creator of all men, but only those who are born again can refer to Him as Father.[3]  "Hear O Israel, Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah" = Hear O Israel, our redeemer is God."

JEHOVAH - יהוה -  The personal name of God. It means redeemer - YHWH - Jehovah is the eternal I AM.  I am Jehovah, thy Elohim.  The most important and most often written name of God in Judaism is the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God, also known as יהוה, or YHWH. "Tetragrammaton" derives from the prefix tetra- ("four") and gramma ("letter", "grapheme"). The Tetragrammaton appears 6,828 times in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia edition of the Hebrew Masoretic text. This name is first mentioned in Genesis 2:4. In English language bibles it is traditionally translated as "The Lord".

ADONAI - אדוני - Master, or one who owns.  My Lord.  Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), the Hebrew for "my lords"  Anon = singular. Adonai = plural.

 

Lord God = Jehovah

Adonai Elohim = Jehovah

 

Jehovah Jirea = The Lord will provide.

Jehovah Rapha = The Lord that heals.

Jehovah Nisi = The Lord our banner, our victory.

Jehovah Qadash = The Lord that sanctifies.

Jehovah Shalom = The Lord our peace.

Jehovah Tsidkenu = The Lord our righteousness.

Jehovah Shammah = The Lord is there.  When Christ returns, Jerusalem will be called Jehovah Shammah.

Jehovah Sabaoth = The Lord of Host.

Jehovah Ra-Ha = The Lord, my shepherd.

          EL is sometimes used  in place of Elohim. An example of this would be El Elyon = most high God.  El Olam = everlasting God.  El Shaddai = Almighty God.  El means strong one.  Shaddai means the breast of God, the nourisher, strength giver, the satisfier.

          HaShem - While other names of God in Judaism are generally restricted to use in a liturgical context, HaShem is used in more casual circumstances. HaShem is used by Orthodox Jews so as to avoid saying Adonai outside of a ritual context

          Ehyeh asher ehyeh (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה) is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God's name (Exodus 3:14). I am that I am.

          According to Jewish tradition, the number of divine names that require the scribe's special care is seven: El, Elohim, Adonai, YHWH, Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh, Shaddai, and Tzevaot.

          Elah (Hebrew: אֵלָה), (plural "elim") is the Aramaic word for "awesome". The origin of the word is uncertain; it may be related to a root word, meaning “fear” or “reverence”. Elah is found in the Tanakh in the books of Ezra, Daniel, and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:11, the only verse in the entire book written in Aramaic.) Elah is used to describe both pagan gods and the one true God.

• Elah-avahati, God of my fathers, (Daniel 2:23)
• Elah Elahin, God of gods (Daniel 2:47)
• Elah Yerushelem, God of Jerusalem (Ezra 7:19)
• Elah Yisrael, God of Israel (Ezra 5:1)
• Elah Shemaya, God of Heaven (Ezra 7:23)

Elyon" means "supreme" (as in "Supreme Court") or "Most High". El Elyon has been traditionally translated into English as 'God Most High'

          In the Hebrew bible Book of Genesis, specifically Gen 16:13, Hagar calls the divine protagonist, El Roi. Roi means “seeing". To Hagar, God revealed Himself as “The God Who sees".

          Shalom ("Peace"; Hebrew: שלום)  The Talmud says "the name of God is 'Peace'

          HaMakom "The Omnipresent" (literally, The Place) (Hebrew: המקום)  Used in the traditional expression of condolence; המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים HaMakom yenachem etchem betoch sh’ar aveilei Tziyon V’Yerushalayim—"The Place (i.e., The Omnipresent One) will comfort you (pl.) among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."

 

          Some of the other references to God are as follows:

• Adir—"Strong One"
• Adon Olam—"Master of the World"
• Aibishter—"The Most High" (Yiddish)
• Aleim—sometimes seen as an alternative transliteration of Elohim
• Avinu Malkeinu—"Our Father, our King"
• Boreh—"the Creator"
• Ehiyeh sh'Ehiyeh—"I Am That I Am": a modern Hebrew version of "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh"
• Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak ve Elohei Ya`aqov—"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob"
• Elohei Sara, Elohei Rivka, Elohei Leah ve Elohei Rakhel—"God of Sarah, God of Rebecca, God of Leah, God of Rachel"
• El ha-Gibbor—"God the hero" or "God the strong one" or "God the warrior"
• Emet—"Truth"
• E'in Sof—"endless, infinite", Kabbalistic name of God
• HaKadosh, Baruch Hu—"The Holy One, Blessed be He"
• Kadosh Israel—"Holy One of Israel"
• Melech HaMelachim—"The King of kings" or Melech Malchei HaMelachim "The King, King of kings", to express superiority to the earthly rulers title. Phillip Birnbaum renders it "The King Who rules over kings"
• Makom or HaMakom—literally "the place", perhaps meaning "The Omnipresent"; see Tzimtzum
• Magen Avraham—"Shield of Abraham"
• Ribono shel `Olam—"Master of the World"
• Ro'eh Yisra'el—"Shepherd of Israel"
• YHWH-Yireh (Adonai-jireh)—"The LORD will provide" (Genesis 22:13–14)
• YHWH-Rapha—"The LORD that healeth" (Exodus 15:26)
• YHWH-Niss"i (Adonai-Nissi)—"The LORD our Banner" (Exodus 17:8–15)
• YHWH-Shalom—"The LORD our Peace" (Judges 6:24)
• YHWH-Ro'i—"The LORD my Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1)
• YHWH-Tsidkenu—"The LORD our Righteousness"^[27] (Jeremiah 23:6)
• YHWH-Shammah (Adonai-shammah)—"The LORD is present" (Ezekiel 48:35)
• Tzur Israel—"Rock of Israel"

          Other names used to refer to God include Lord, Ancient of Days, 'Most High', 'King of Kings' or 'Lord of Lords' and Lord of the Hosts.  Some Quakers refer to God as the Light.

JESUS

Jesus (Iesus, Yeshua, Joshua, or Yehoshûa) is a Hebraic personal name meaning "Yahweh saves/helps/is salvation".

Christ means "the anointed" in Greek. Khristos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah.

          Other common names for Jesus are "the Lamb", "the Lamb of God", "the Son of God", the "Son of Man", "The Word"[4], Emanuel and the Nazarene.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Nicene Creed refers to the Holy Spirit as "the Holy Spirit", "the Lord", and "the giver of Life".

The Apostles' Creed refers to the Holy Spirit as "the Holy Spirit".

Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as "Paraclete" (Greek: παράκλητος) and "the Spirit of Truth".  Elsewhere in the Gospels, the Holy Spirit is termed "a Comforter" and "the Counsellor".

The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the "Holy Ghost".

"Pneuma" is the Greek word for spirit and is found 385 times in the New Testament. It is used in the general sense of spirit as well as the Holy Spirit, and can also mean wind or breath.

Ruach HaKodesh - רוח הקודש - is the Hebrew  name, meaning the Holy Spirit.

          QUESTION – If for 2000 years we counted time as being BC and AD, why did we change to BCE and CE?  Let’s see, BC meant ‘Before Christ’ and AD meant “year of our Lord”; whereas now BCE means ‘before the Christian era’ and CE means’ the Christian era’.  I know that some people think the C (i.e. the common era) means common but do we really want to see it that way?  Common to me means low, crude behavior, which I guess really does exemplify the common man, and describes what is happening in the world today.  Yes, we have gotten to the point where some want to take all reference to God out of our consciousness.

          Much of the research for this paper came from 'Bible Doctrines' by Mark G. Cambron, DD, Zondervan Publishing House 1954, Wikipedia, other books and web sites; Christian, Jewish and secular.

                ^"And (Jesus) being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[5]

          "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."[6]

Eloi, Eloi, Boruck HaShem, Adonai Eloheinu, Amen. =  Father, Father, praise the name of my Lord, King of the universe, Amen.

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[1] 1 John 5:7, John 14:26, 1 Peter 1:2,

[2] 'Bible Doctrines' by Mark G. Cambron, DD, Zondervan Publishing House 1954

[3] John 5:23, John 14:6

[4] John 1:1-4

[5] Philippians 2:8-11

[6] Acts 4:12

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Combining Religions

          Today, there are many that say we all worship the same God, although we use different names.  This is the work of Satan.  Although our Lord and Savior is known by several names, none of them is the name of a false god. The Lord God Jehovah, the creator of the heavens and the earth as well as the entire universe is a jealous God.  He is not willing to share His place with any of the man made gods. What an insult; to call Him by the name of a god made with hands that cannot speak, cannot see and cannot hear. I will admit that you might get an answer if, from the depths of your heart, you cried out "does anyone out there love me?", but you had better check out who answers.  Don't forget, Satan can shape shift, and is the great deceiver.

          There are many "religions" in the world today. The major religions are Judaism/Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto and Confucianism.  There are many smaller, and mostly tribal religions.  Except for the Universalistic/Syncretistic groups and organizations such as the World Council of Churches, there are not many trying to combine these different religions.  The Bible tells us that in the future, at the end of this dispensation or age, a One World Religion will be set up, by the false prophet. 

          There are four groups, or sects, of Judaism today: the Orthodox, the Conservative, the Reformed and the Christian.  As we now see, these four groups of professing Jews and Christians prove the promise of God to Abraham; that his seed would be without number.  Today, there are over 2.5 billion professing Jewish people which includes all four groups.  The next closest are the Islamists, with 1.3 billion followers. 

          A book I have recently read, titled The World Religions[1], lists Judaism as a non Christian religion.  We can therefore understand the world's confusion about what is Judaism and what is not.  We can see that they are right in one way only: Judaism is not part of Christianity, Christianity is a part of Judaism: always was, is now and always will be[2].  Even a cursory reading of what Jesus said verifies this: "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"[3], "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."[4].  This book also refers to Christianity and Islam as daughter religions of Judaism.  It shows a real misunderstanding of who God is.  To try to establish a relationship between the God of the Bible and the god of the cult of Islam is blasphemy.  Yahweh, the Hebrew deity, is the creator God who made everything, who always has been, is now and always will be.  Allah, the god of Islam, is the pagan moon god, worshiped by Mohammed's parents.  It always amazes me to see how people can look at the historical records and come up with such off the wall conclusions.  There is only one true and living God.

          During the millennium[5], the combined religion of Christianity and Judaism will become one harmonious people and reign in Jerusalem.  When the Jews finally recognize Jesus as their Messiah, they will realize that Christianity is really a part of Judaism.  Many Christians realize that this is the case.  The Jews and Christians of today are so close, and yet so far away.  Most Christians don't realize that they are adopted Jews. There are Rabbi's that for hundreds of years say that Jesus was the Messiah to the gentiles, whereas the Jewish Messiah has yet to come.

          All Jews will be Messianic after the second coming of Jesus.

 Chrisraelies ?  Christalites ?  Jebrews?  Hebrewanity?  How about we just call ourselves children of the One True and Living God.  The world belonged to God when He created it, is now, and always will be. This is another reason to side with Israel in disputes over the land mass that God gave to them.  We, being His people, should honor what He has established.

          David Flusser, a teacher at the Hebrew University in the 1960's said: about Jesus the Jew, that every word that came from his mouth had its source in the Torah.  “As a religious Jew,” said Rabbi Dr. Eugene  Korn, “I believe that Christians believe in many of the fundamentals of Judaism. So religiously there is every reason to have better relations.  “Why does the Messiah tarry? When will He come?” These were questions which continually agitated young Rabbi Leopold Cohn, D.D.'s  mind. One day, while poring over a volume of the Talmud, he came upon the following citation: “The world will stand six thousand years. There will be two thousand years of confusion, two thousand years under the law, and two thousand years of the time of the Messiah.”  Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, one of the most revered rabbis in history, named the Messiah as Yehoshua[6] ( the Hebrew word for Jesus, which means salvation).

          The current movement to combine Christianity and Islam is an abomination in the Lord's eyes.  This is known as Chrislam.  Since there is only one True and Living God; He will not share His glory with a false god of any kind. 

          One thing we should all keep in mind: the Messiah Jesus (Yehoshua Ha-Mashiach) is the only one who offers salvation from our sins.  There is no other religion that has someone who suffered and died for you, rose again on the third day and now offers the only path to Heaven: price paid, free of charge and with no works necessary.  Works are not followed by salvation, salvation is followed by works, to bring glory to God. 

At Jesus' return, all will recognize him. 

Isaiah 45:23  "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."

Romans 14:11  "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Philippians 2:10  "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;"

Acts 4:12   ^"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

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[1] The World Religions, William B. Eerdman's publishing Co,. Grand Rapids Michigan

[2]  Psalm 102:27, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17

[3] Matthew 5:18

[4] Matthew 5:17

[5] Isaiah 11:10-16

[6] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATuecTsn3fg

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Born Again

            John 3:16-18 tells us: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

          Romans 10:9-17 tells us: That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture says, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who hath believed our report?  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

          Acts 4:12 tells us: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

 

This is the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus,

 who was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin (John 3:3-8) -

Jesus - Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

Nicodemus - How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Jesus - You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.

Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound thereof, but can't tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

          1 Peter 1:3 says: All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

          1 Peter 1:23 says: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

          Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

          If you call yourself a Christian, and are not born again, you are deceiving yourself.  The Christian church has gotten a bad name, in some circles over the centuries, because of the people who did things in the name of Christ but did not know Christ.[1] You cannot know Christ without being born again.  Some of the biggest lies of the devil are: that you can be born a Christian because your family is Christian, Jesus is not the only way to Heaven, you can get to Heaven by good works, and church membership qualifies you as being a Christian. Jesus said: "you cannot get into Heaven without being born again".  Becoming born again is a personal choice, for which we are each individually responsible.

          The Jews are afraid of Christians because they have a corrupted idea of what a Christian is.  It is even considered, by some of them, a sin to read the New Testament and parts of Isaiah because they describe Jesus as the Messiah. The most revered Rabbi in Israel (Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri[2]), who recently died, left a note to be read a year after he died, naming Yehoshua (Hebrew for Jesus) as the Messiah and said He would be coming very soon. 

          The Moslem's are afraid of Christians because their religion inventor lied about Jesus, the Old Testament and the New testament, in order to guide his people away from the one true and living God.  They also consider it a sin to read the Bible.  Many Moslems have come to believe in Jesus, in recent years, because of dreams and visions.  Others have read the Bible and accepted Jesus, because they came to realize it was the truth of God.

          Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us we are saved by Grace, not by works - that grace is the availability of salvation through Jesus

          John 20:30-31 says: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

          Why do we believe in the fundamentals of the faith? 

Paul said if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead we have nothing to believe in.

"When you are Born Again you receive the Holy Spirit, but how much of you does the Holy Spirit receive?"[3] 

          The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), as well as Paul's writings, were in circulation while the eyewitnesses to Jesus life, death and resurrection, were still alive.  John's gospel, and the other books he wrote, were written after most of the eyewitnesses had passed on.  Common knowledge of the synoptic gospels, Acts and the books by Paul, Peter and James were all circulated in the early church.  Almost two thousand years of documentation has proven that the Bible we have today is an accurate record of these writings. 

          If a Jew accepts Jesus. he simply becomes a Messianic Jew.  When a gentile accepts Jesus he transforms from a non-believer to a believer in the God of Israel, and is adopted into the root and branch of Judaism.  A Christian is an adopted son of God whether he is a completed Jew and therefore a son of God as well as a son of Abraham, while the gentile who becomes a Christian, becomes a adopted Jew: circumcised in his heart.  It is significant that the Jews are brought to Jesus by Jehovah while the gentiles are brought to Jehovah by Jesus. 

          Jesus disciples were for the most part Jews.  Those, both for and against Him, knew the Old Testament scriptures and were either convinced by them or were afraid because of them.  Time and again the apostles used these Old Testament scriptures to prove, to the Jews, who Jesus was. 

          God has given us the choice to believe in Him or not to believe in Him.  The consequences of that choice will live with us forever. We can't let others influence our decision.  The Bible tells us that if we will truly seek Him, He will manifest Himself to us. 

          It has been said that our walk with Jesus is a process[4].  Paul discusses this by talking about baby Christians that are only able to receive the milk of the Gospel and that the more mature Christians are able to understand the meat of the Gospel.  Regardless of the depth of your walk, once you have been born again, your ticket to Heaven has been punched; your journey has begun.

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[1] Examples are 1. the Crusades 2. the Inquisition 3. the Nazi's claiming to be Christian, when in reality they were occultists 4. the apostate churches of the present time

[2] http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23877

[3] PastorDave@FBC sarasota.com

[4] Dr. James Jasper Fason, Jr.

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Biblical Archeology By Dummies

          I never cease to be amazed by those, who will do anything they can, to discredit the Bible.  You would think, considering what it costs to create a television production, the people producing it would be well versed in the subject covered.  Shows on The History Channel, American Hero's Channel, The Discovery Channel, among others seem not to care about accuracy.  They purport to be scientific presentations of different aspects of the Bible and archeological discovery.  Would it be considered paranoid to think there might be an agenda behind the misrepresentations?  A famous Christian author was interviewed on one of these shows.  They cut up what he said so badly that he refused to participate in future shows.

          One History Channel show surmised that a messianic figure who died about the time of Jesus' birth was the ensample for Jesus to pattern His life. They also surmised that Jesus would have been too young to have studied under him (since Jesus would have been 4 or under), so it must have been John the Baptist who did the studying and passed  the information to Jesus. What they forgot was that John the Baptist was only 6 months older than Jesus.

          Another History Channel show was about life 10,000 years BC.  Since we know that in the current creation, God created Adam (the first man) about 6,000 years ago, there can only be 6,000 years of history of man..  We also know that after the flood, only Noah and his family were alive on the earth. What the scientists fail to recognize, is the prior creation and those that were alive before the flood.  These are two separate observable times in the crust of the earth.

          Dr. Ivan Pannin, a world renowned mathematician who didn't believe in God, set out to prove the Bible was not true, by the use of mathematics. He discovered that there was no way the Bible could have been written by men, and became a Christian.[1]

          Lee Strobel was an award winning journalist and atheist, who didn't believe in the Bible or Jesus.  When his wife became a Christian he set out to prove, one way or the other, if the Bible and Jesus had any merit.  He also became a Christian, and wrote a series of writings proving the validity of the Gospels, creation, the Bible, Jesus, etc.[2].

          There are those who say the Old Testament Hebrews had no idea of any kind of a resurrection of the dead. It seems funny that, although the Sadducees didn't believe in angels or the resurrection of the dead, the Pharisees did. This was the main cause of division among them when they were trying to trap Jesus.   Except for a few; Jesus, Lazarus, and a few others, most of us will have to wait to verify this resurrection. 

          The Book of Revelation was obviously written for Christians.  Without the insight of who Jesus is, and what He did, there is no basis for an understanding of what it says.  However, even a cursory reading of this book will shed light on things that are happening in these last days of the Church age.  There is even conjecture that the Apostle John was not the author of Revelation.  In a way they could be right. Jesus was the author of the Book of Revelation, and John was the scribe.  John wrote what Jesus told him and therefore the title should read The Revelation of Jesus Christ

          For centuries, the Islamists denied the existence of King David and Solomon.  Recent archeological findings have proven the existence of both.  The Islamists have sealed up the East Gate, in Jerusalem, and put a grave yard in front of it, so that the Jesus they don't believe in can't enter through it when He returns.

          One of the dumbest statements I have heard lately was by a commentator trying to be authoritative.  He stated that the Bible serves as a testament, that there is something in the universe greater than we are.  God is not 'in' the universe; He is everywhere (omnipresent). God created the universe.  He is larger and greater than the universe.

          I could go on, with example after example, however I think I have made my point.  Those Christians and Jews who have faith in God will believe the Bible is true, and it doesn't matter if nonbelievers believe it or not.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Panin

[2] http://www.leestrobel.com/

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