This Article: (4 Pages)
1) God
The most precious thoughts we have ought to be regarding our Creator and His name. Such a subject should not be shrouded or veiled, yet it might best be approached with prayer. Certainly much argument has arisen because of ignorance.
Before we begin, let us throw out useless terminology. Hebrew is not our first language; English is. But the word 'God' or 'LORD' is not a useful representation for any Hebrew word, let alone The Name.
The following translation makes no grammatical sense.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Let us fully translate this. Now “God” is not a Hebrew word. It is quite clearly of Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, Scandinavian, and Germanic origin from the time they were pagans worshipping the gods as the sun and things of the earth. There is some debate as to the meaning of the word 'god', however it might mean 'good'. In Gothic the word was associated with warriors (Guda/Guth is related to the word 'Gothic'). Long before the Gothic era, Hebrew had imported 'Gad' as 'crowd' or a 'troop'. In any case, the Hebrew scholars' work indicates that the majority of the words in Hebrew translated 'God', might be better translated as 'Mighty-Ones' or 'Mighty One'. Strongs says of the word translated 'God' in Genesis Chapter One
'ĕlôhı̂ym el-o-heem'
Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: - angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.
The word is translated 'mighty' when speaking of Abraham in Genesis 23:6. That the same word may be translated 'angels', 'very great' and 'mighty' indicates that it doesn't mean 'good' or 'troop', and therefore 'God' is not a good translation.
Genesis One, if fully translated with the sense of the Hebrew captured in English, is made clear,
And Mighty-Ones said, Let us make men in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So Mighty-Ones created the man in his own image, in the image of Mighty-Ones created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
We have two witnesses that there were many divine beings at creation. It was also revealed to Job that there were many beings called sons of Mighty-Ones present at creation,
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Mighty-Ones shouted for joy? (Job 38:6-7)
That in context they are equated with 'stars' indicates that 'all the sons' is not two or three but a multitude. Jacob at Bethel was shown many messengers of the Mighty-Ones ascending from the earth, showing that they walked on the earth. Perhaps for understanding we may call the Elohim 'angels', but angels (a word we have inherited from Greek) means 'messengers' and at creation they are not acting as 'messengers' but as obedient 'sons of the Mighty'. With Jacob at Bethel those of the Mighty-Ones he saw in vision were acting messengers to the LORD.
Names
Everything has a name. The first recorded work of Adam was the naming of all things. In this way beings communicate. At creation an agreed convention was set up for communication between Adam and the Elohim or Mighty-Ones.
The name
But how ought humans to address the Creator, styled in Genesis One “the Spirit of Mighty-Ones”? That He is spirit is made clear in this declaration by Yeshua (Jesus),
“Theos a spirit (wind/ breath/ mind) : and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)
It is clear spirit ought not to be imagined as a tangible. So the name of the Creator Spirit will reflect this intangible nature.
It will be shown that the name of the Creator Spirit is not “the LORD” and it is not even a useful representation for His Name.
When we go to the record we find Moses asked for The Name. Moses saw a fire which did not burn the bush. There was a spirit shown as a flame.
And the messenger of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, Mighty-Ones called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said: 'Moses, Moses.' And he said: 'Here am I.' (Exodus 3:4)
Note how the messenger equals one of the Mighty-Ones. Then the voice of the messenger of the Mighty-Ones from out of the flame that does not consume says,
Moreover he said, I am (Heb:anoki) Mighty-Ones of thy father, Mighty-Ones of Abraham, Mighty-Ones of Isaac, and Mighty-Ones of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon the Mighty-Ones. (Exodus 3:6)
The messenger speaks with authority, as the LORD,
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.. (Exodus 3:7-8)
Furthermore,
he said, Certainly I will be (Heb:eheyeh) with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve the Mighty-Ones upon this mountain. (Exodus 3:12)
This is a personal promise to Moses. Moses then asks a question that proves that the word translated 'God' is not, and was never understood, as the name of Deity.
“Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, 'The Mighty-Ones of your fathers has sent me unto you'; and they shall say to me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say unto them?” (Exodus 3:13)
The answer given is The Name
eheyeh asher eheyeh
Translation should be consistent with the previous verse (see above that 'I am' is anoki but 'I will be' is eheyeh and there is no instance where eheyeh is translated as 'I am'. We dishonour Deity if we put our own thinking in place of His communication!) So eheyeh must be translated as 'I will be' giving the phrase,
I will be who I will be
To which was added “'Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel: 'I Will Be has sent me unto you'.”
This translation is supported by a Hebrew source which will open in a new tab What's in a name or as links may be broken as a /pdf here
When the Creator speaks He may say “I will be” (Eheyeh) but it is inappropriate and grammatically incorrect that when we speak of Deity we say “I”. So when we speak, the name becomes “He Will Be” or Yahweh
“Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel: Yahweh Mighty-Ones of your fathers, Mighty-Ones of Abraham, Mighty-Ones of Isaac, and Mighty-Ones of Jacob, has sent me unto you; this is My Name for ever, and this is My Memorial unto all generations. (Exodus 3:15)
Therefore the name, which is to be the memorial for all this creation era, expresses an intent of “I will be who I will be” to become “He who will be the Mighty-Ones, specifically of the fathers of Israel.
Note the parallel- in typical Biblical fashion,
I will be who I will be
He who will be Mighties of the Fathers of Israel
In other words “I who will be” had chosen to be “Mighties of the Fathers of Israel” or they had been selected, or in New Testament terms been elect. Though the fathers of Israel were all dead the tense is best expressed as an event that will yet come to pass, indicating the truth that
Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calls the LORD the Theos of Abraham, and the Theos of Isaac, and the Theos of Jacob. (Luke 20:37)
The future tense of “I will become” expresses the certainty of the fulfilment of the promises, firstly to the fathers, which is the promise to Adam, in Seth, Enos and the fathers of old, then to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thus the eternal Spirit has chosen to be memorialised in a name which expresses the present intent to carry out a future action.
In this way the Hebrew name Yahweh Elohim which is 'He who will be MightyOnes' since the time of Moses has been short for the Memorial to all generations
Yahweh Mighty-Ones of your fathers, Mighty-Ones of Abraham, Mighty-Ones of Isaac, and Mighty-Ones of Jacob
The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way,
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: Theos having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrew 11:39-40)
The Name of Memorial speaks now of the certainty of future events. It is a name people may “call on”, or make requests of Deity according to the purpose expressed by it. The following will show that this was available from the beginning as Yahweh, The Name of promise, existed from the time of Seth.
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There has been much said about 'building bridges not walls'. But this idea has no resonance in the scripture. The word 'bridge' never appears. Which is very, very strange, as they certainly existed before and by the time of Christ.
What does it mean when it was written, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name"?
The meaning of the word translated 'heaven' in the Bible is of great beauty and has been lost in translation. Firstly, translation lost the Hebrew links of the word itself, and secondly, meaning was lost in the 'myth-conceptions' now associated with the English word.
This is in response to a question directed to us. Does Isaiah 9:6, which gives the title of a promised king of Israel, calling him 'Wonderful, counsellor, everlasting father, Prince of Peace', show Jesus as God? Firstly we will investigate the context, and who the passage is about. Then we will determine whether it even mentions 'God' in the title of the promised king in the Hebrew text.
