In another thread,
Jews: What do judaism think of jehovas witnesses doctrine?,
the question was raised as to the 'correct' name of our Creator. We
name our children, our pets, our boats, even our houses etc. We have
the naming rights because they 'belong' to us, our property. When naming
God I find it a bit arrogant, we belong to God, he does not belong to us. Are we not satisfied with 'I am who I am'? I ask this here as I am not allowed to ask on the other thread.
Hi Pearl. Good evening. You used the analogy of naming our children, boats, pets etc. Indeed, we have the right to name those things around us. Adam was given this blessing in Genesis where he was given the right to name the animals. However, you say that naming Yahweh is arrogant. Actually the converse is true, because we are not naming Yahweh, Yahweh has chosen to name himself in His Word. In the Inspired Hebrew Scriptures the four letters of the Name appear as yothe, hay, waw, hay in the text. One cannot escape this fact when we read the Hebrew text. The Name appears in the text frequently and each encounter impresses upon us the fact of its importance. It is therefore imperative that we transliterate the Name into English and every other language spoken by men so that all may know the personal Name of the one true Mighty One.
The term “transliterate” means “to write or spell (words, etc) in the characters of another alphabet that represent the same sounds.” Therefore the word means to carry across the sounds of words so that the same word will be recognised in the languages when spoken from one language to another. The King James translators attempted to do this when they retained a phonetic transliteration of the names of the Prophets – Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. Incidentally, the names of the prophets are usually an attempted transliteration of how their names sounded in the Hebrew. The Bible is a Hebrew – Israelite book, and its integral composition is in the Hebrew language. Whether treating the letters in the Name as vowels or consonants, one still finds the pronunciation Y-A-H-W-E-H to be true.
The Encyclopedia Judaica says:
“The true pronunciation of the name YHWH was never lost. Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced ‘Yahweh” (Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 7, p. 679)
Furthermore, I’d like to point your attention to a scripture which says in no uncertain terms that saying ‘It only matters what’s in my heart’ isn’t a valid excuse for not using the Name.
“If we have forgotten the name of our Elohim,
Or spread forth our hands to a strange elohim;
21 Will not Elohim search this out?
For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.”
(Psalm 44:20-21)
You say we shouldn’t use the Name of the Almighty, but you have no problem using terms like ‘God’ and ‘Lord’ which have pagan connotations. Yahweh has revealed His Name in His Word. I can go through how the letters are pronounced if you like to prove this. Approximately 7,000 times does the Sacred Name appear in the Hebrew Scriptures. You mentioned I AM THAT I AM from Exodus 3:14, but you fail to see that in the very next verse, verse 15, Yahweh reveals his Name saying: “And Elohim said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” (Exodus 3:13-15)
Using the Name is important for our salvation. Knowing the Name is important because not all religions are truth. There is only one true faith. Joel 2:32 says: "And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant those whom Yahweh does call.