One of the peculiar things about Christianity is that there is little ambiguity to it. Sure, it has rules, but there is nothing that is simply not to be mentioned: no forbidden words, topics, or phrases. It is very straightforward. To put it in generic terms, a Christian must believe in God, believe in Jesus and that He died on the cross to pay for the sins of humanity, and love everyone, both neighbors and enemies. God Himself, especially in this era, is not necessarily a mystery. Although there is little Christians truly know about Him, they have the privilege of having a relationship with Him through faith, prayer, and the feeling of His presence through the Holy Spirit. Everything we need to know about Him is written in His word. Even in the Bible, He appears to be very open about Himself toward His people, and He is not afraid to show His power. There is one thing, however, that modern Christians, and even ancient Christians, do not know — God’s personal name. He is, obviously, most commonly referred to as “God” or “Lord” in English, but what is the true name of God that was revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14)?
In our English Bibles, the name appears in the phrase, "I am who I am." But There is no way of knowing the answer to this question for sure; the true pronunciation of the name has been unknown for centuries. The divine name appears in the Hebrew Bible in the form of the tetragrammaton: YHWH. This gives us clues toward the name, but without the Hebrew vowels, which were removed from the text. According to William Mounce in his Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, the vowels were removed in order to protect believers from violation of the third commandment (“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”), the true pronunciation is unclear. In the midst of this mystery, scholars have merged the tetragrammaton with the vowels from another one of God’s Hebrew names — “adonai,” which means “Lord.” The combination of these two names results in “Yahweh,” which has the basic meaning, “He which is” or “He who is truly present,” as described by H.B. Kuhn in the Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. It is interesting because “Yahweh is a specifically Hebrew name for God,” as said by Kuhn, thus meaning that no other god has ever been referred by this name.
In fact, names were very important to the Israelites. In the Bible, a name tells one about a person’s character or personality. They were used for more than just identifying a person; their meanings were meant to be known -- Herbert Lockyer describes this principle in Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. For example, Eve refers to “mother of all things living.” Moses means “drawn from the river.” He says that the name of a baby reflected on either “the circumstances of the birth, the [parents’] own feelings, the [parents’] gratitude to God, the [parents’] hopes and prayers for the child, or the [parents’] commitment of the child to God." In addition, when God changed names, it was a connection with those who were called: the names being symbolic of their new callings — Abram to Abraham, meaning “father of many nations,” for example. When it came to the divine name, however, Lockyer reveals that the “name of the Lord was virtually synonymous of His presence…to know the name of God is thus to know God Himself." This is where the name Yahweh comes back in. The name Yahweh was known as early as the birth of Enosh, which is in Genesis 4. It was given significance, however, when it was made known to Moses. It was revealed to Moses as an “intensely personal name,” describes Kuhn, which can be inferred to mean that it is the one and only true name of God. He continues to say that it gives God transcendence and immanence as well as power and ability while being crucially active with humanity. The Israelites understood Yahweh as being active and existent in the present always. The revealing of the divine name was a “landmark in spiritual awareness," says Kuhn. The fact that God introduced Himself to the Israelites provides evidence that He wants to restore the bond between Himself and humanity. In fact, Kuhn points out that saving history became available through this name. A new covenant was established.
The divine name of God may be the biggest mystery in all of Christianity. After being removed from the Biblical texts, its pronunciation and overall form was lost. Although “Yahweh” is likely to be close to accurate, how far off are scholars? One will never know in his lifetime. Perhaps it is for the best the name has been blurred throughout history. The personal name of God is sacred and holy, and, especially in today’s world, it seems God has lost a great deal of His holiness. He is a friend and savior, but modern Christians appear to have difficulty grasping how holy He truly is. With the divine name preserved, it will never be used improperly. It will forever remain pure and sacred.
