Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Isaiah 52:6: “Therefore my people shall know my name, Therefore they shall know in that day, that I am He that doth speak, behold it is I.”
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet – Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene 2
There is something that rubs me the wrong way about the rendering “Behold it is I.” Not only is it redundant, it makes little sense to declare such a statement. You are speaking of a future event when God’s name will be known and then makes an interjection which is rendered as “behold it is I” or “surely it is I.” The Bodleian manuscripts, that is the Old Testament manuscripts that are housed in the Bodleian library at Oxford University has the words “I am YHWH” rather than “hinei” for the phrase “Behold, it is I.” This would fit the verse much better as God is not saying ‘Behold it is I” but “I am Jehovah.” This particularly fits considering the verse centers around the name of God and knowing his name.
There is a relatively new Christian fad going around. It is now “In Vogue” among your more sophisticated Christians to refer to God as “YHWH” and Jesus as “Yeshua.” It is more “sporting” you know to use the Hebrew name of God, it put’s you a notch above these illiterate Christians who are still stuck in the dark ages reading their King James Version of the Bible. I am really not sure what someone is trying to prove by using the Hebrew name of God. The name simply means “I am” in Hebrew. My kid brother, who is a linguist with Wycliffe Bible Translators, gave me my first lesson in linguistics when he was seven years old. He came home from school and said; “I will give you all my money if you can pronounce a word without a vowel.” Well his quarter allowance was safe, because you can not pronounce a word without a vowel. Which brings us to the problem with YHWH, if you haven’t noticed, it has no vowels and hence we have no idea how it is pronounced. So to refer to God as “Yah way” will bring you no closer to pronouncing the true name of God than to refer to Him as Jehovah.
When Isaiah 53:6 says that in “that day” they will know my name, God was not referring to knowing how to pronounce His name. The word “name” in Hebrew is “shem” and means a reputation, what a person is. The word “YHWH” has an unusual form to it and literally means; “I was, I am, and I will be.”
Well bully for us, we now all know His name. So we certainly have that bit of prophecy all sowed up. Let’s move on to the rapture. There is one problem with that and that is the word “to know.” It is the word “Yada” in Hebrew and it is the same word used when Abraham “knew” his wife. As Woody Allen said; “This is ‘to know’ in a Biblical sense.” This is not knowing how to pronounce His name or to use YHWH instead of Jehovah, it is being intimate with the reputation behind this name.
This evening I was early for work, so I took a walk through a park. God and I were alone and we talked about the last four years since I began my journey to the heart of God. This past week I have been reviewing the hundreds and hundreds of devotionals or word studies that I have done in the last four years in my search for the heart of God. I could see with each word study that I grew a bit nearer to God’s heart, and that I am getting closer. I feel the warmth of His Light, the comfort of his arms. I can almost hear the soothing sounds of his voice. His Word, the Bible is becoming more an more precious to me. The things of this word, it’s honors, recognitions, accomplishments, the pursuit of financial security etc., are all becoming strangely dim. I know I am getting closer to His heart because things in this natural world that used to matter to me seems to have lost it value.
This evening as I walked and talked with God I wanted to reach out and touch Him, to pass through that portal into his presence. Yet, I could hear God say: “You still do not know (yada) my name.” Knowing His name means more than just know how to pronounce His name, or even what His name means, it means to have an intimate relationship with that name.
It is said that animals have a sixth sense. St. Francis of Assisi would go off into the woods and animals would come up to him. If you see a statute of St. Francis of Assisi you see him with a bird on his shoulder or in his hand. It is said that animals have a sixth sense. They know when a violent storm is approaching or an earthquake. They also know something else. I believe when we were given dominion over the animals, it meant that we have something they do not, the Spirit of God living in us. The next time your cat jumps up on your lap and wants to cuddle, it may not be you he desires to be close to, it may be his Creator and he senses his Creator in you.
If Mr. Henderson (your cat) desires to be close to his Creator more than you do who has the Spirit of your creator in you, then you do not know His name. Mr. Henderson does and he knows where to go. If you know His name you will know where to go to be close to your Creator. I am learning that when Riley (my nieces cat) starts trying to snuggle I take that as a cue that the Spirit of God is seeking to draw close to me and I follow Riley’s lead and begin to worship my Creator.
Perhaps one day I will become so intimate with the name of God, that I will not need Riley to alert me to the Spirit of God moving within me. I will have developed that sixth sense and be ready for an intimate moment with my creator when He so desires.
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