He will not be left guiltless

He will not be left guiltless
We see the second part of the third commandment, the person who takes the LORD’S name in vain will not be left guiltless. We have seen in the previous examples, everyone who has cursed and blasphemed the LORD’S name all have received punishment for their sin. If you are concerned someone’s speech is offensive and may be violating the third commandment, we need to stay calm and allow God to dole out the punishment.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)

What about the name “I AM”?
When reading through the Gospels, it appears as though Jesus says His name is “I AM”. Is this correct? Does this accord with Scripture? The answer is yes and no.

The LORD’S name has four letters yud-hey-vav-hey. The last three letters combine to form the word “hoveh” which means present tense. The Hebrew language lacks the word “is”. In English we say, He “is” tall. “She “is” pretty. In Hebrew the sentences would read “He tall.” “She pretty.”

Using hey-yud-hey forms the word haya. Haya means past tense. If you add a yud before the verb, it changes it to future tense. Haya becomes yihiye.

The four letters of the LORD’S name is a multilayered understanding. God is the past, present and future. God’s name is the name of existence, or more clearly, God is Existence.

God gives an explanation of His name to Moses in Exodus 3:14:
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

As previously stated, Hebrew does not use is, was, am, were, etc. The Hebrew reads: “Ah-yah asher ah-yah”. This loosely translates as I exist that I exist. The word ah-yah is in the perfect tense meaning the existence is in the past, present and future.

It is very likely Jesus uses this phrase ah-yah when He is speaking to the Jews at the Temple.

 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not rightly say that You are a Samaritan, and You have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; on the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 But I am not seeking My glory; there is One who seeks it, and judges. 51 Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone follows My word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets as well; and yet You say, ‘If anyone follows My word, he will never taste of death.’ 53 You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are You? The prophets died too. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?”

54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you; but I do know Him, and I follow His word. 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the temple grounds. (John 8:48-59)

Looking at the Greek, a better translation of the text into English would be: Before Abraham came into being, I exist. This directly correlates back to the Hebrew used in Exodus 3.

Since Jesus was not speaking Greek, but Aramaic or Hebrew, the wording probably was the exact phrase used in Exodus 3:14. Furthermore, when anyone quotes a verse from Scripture, it is not just the one verse which was being quoted, it was the text around the verse. In Exodus 3:15, we are given the complete name of God to be used for all generations: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me.” Jesus is proclaiming He is the LORD. The Jews thought Jesus was blaspheming God’s name. They picked up stone to throw at Him, the punishment rendered to anyone found blaspheming the LORD’S name.

On the night Jesus is arrested, he is in the garden. Jesus is asked if He is Jesus the Nazarene.

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went away with His disciples across the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden which He entered with His disciples. 2 Now Judas, who was betraying Him, also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. 3 So Judas, having obtained the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, *came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, came out into the open and *said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He *said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 Now then, when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.  (John 18:1-6)

In the Greek text, Jesus utters the same Greek word “imee” as He said in John 8:58). The text is better translated as “I exist”. Again, Jesus was not speaking Greek. When Jesus uttered the Aramaic or Hebrew, the soldiers fell down. This accords with Scripture.

When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. (Psalm 27:2)


May he also rule from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9
May the nomads of the desert bow before him,
And his enemies lick the dust.
10
May the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring gifts;
May the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tributes.
11
And may all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him. (Psalm 72:8-11)


“Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge,
Who carry around their wooden idol
And pray to a god who cannot save.
21
Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23
I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
24
They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
People will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25
In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be justified and will boast.” (Isaiah 45:20-25)

Cursing the LORD’S Name

We have previously mentioned Genesis 4:26, when he people began to call negatively on the name of the LORD. The result was the flood. We have a few more examples in the Bible in which people use the LORD’S name inappropriately.

First, let’s go to the book of Leviticus. In Leviticus chapter 24, the Israelites are in the wilderness. They have fled from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They have received the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai. A dispute arises between two people in the Israelite camp.

Now the son of an Israelite woman—his father was an Egyptian—went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man had a fight within the camp. 11 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses.

(Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they put him in custody, waiting for Moses to give them a clear decision in accordance with the command of the Lord.

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have all the congregation stone him. 15 You shall also speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then he will bear the responsibility for his sin. 16 Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The stranger as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. (Leviticus 24:10-16)

We see from this incident, anyone who blasphemes the Name (notice Scripture says the Name and does not use the tetragrammaton in the sentence), he is put to death. A few things to note. He was an Israelite living in the camp and was part of the covenant. Living in the camp meant he knew the rules (the instructions God had given) and knew he had to abide by them. If he wanted to act in his own way, he could have left the camp at any time. Would there have been punishment for this man’s actions if he was not part of the Israelite camp? The answer is probably no. The man is punished when he was brought before Moses. If the man was out in the world, he would not have been under Moses’ jurisdiction. No punishment would probably have been rendered.

We see this in today’s world. If a teenager is living in your home, he has to live by your rules. He may not be allowed to curse or use foul language. Parents can only enforce their rules as long as the child is in the house. As soon as the teenager moves out, the parents’ rules no longer apply to the person while living in his own accommodations. He can curse and do anything he pleases in his own home without receiving punishment from his parents.

New Testament Example:
In the New Testament, Jesus tells Peter He knows Peter will betray Him and tells Peter what will happen to him.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back [to Me], strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!” 34 But He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

As the text continues, Jesus is arrested and taken into custody. Peter follows at a distance. He is able to go into the High Priest’s house to observe the trial.

Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. 55 After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!” 58 And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he, too, is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:54-62)

In verse 60, it states Peter said, “Man, I am not!” In the original language, it states the way Peter responded to the accusations was by uttering a curse. Not only did Peter deny his knowledge of Jesus, but he upheld it by swearing by a curse (which mostly likely included God’s name in it). The penalty for Peter’s behavior was separation from the disciples.

In Mark’s Gospel, we have the story of the women going to the tomb with spices. They see angels and are given the following instructions:

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” 4 And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 But he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (Mark 16:1-8)

It seems strange; the angels say to tell the disciples and Peter. Perhaps it is looking too far into the text, but one could view the exclusion of Peter from the Disciples as his punishment for denying Jesus. Peter may have been cut off from the disciples as a form of punishment for denying Jesus and taking an oath invoking God’s name.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus talks to Peter privately. He asks him Peter three times if he loves Jesus.

Now when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He said to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

18 Truly, truly I tell you, when you were younger, you used to put on your belt and walk wherever you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put your belt on you, and bring you where you do not want to go.” 19 Now He said this, indicating by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had said this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!” (John 21:15-19)
 

Many see this conversation as Jesus restoring Peter back to being a disciple.

Lastly, we have the story of Job. Job has everything taken away form him--his livestock, his children and his health. Job's wife tells Job to curse die. If Job curses God, Job will die. This will free his wife from the marriage and allow her to remarry. As long as Job is alive, his wife cannot abandon Job. She must remained married to Job. 

 Despite Job's wife's advice, Job does not curse God. Instead he remains faithful. Job is blessed for his obedience by receiving double all hiss possessions.

10The LORD also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased double all that Job had. 11Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him a [c]piece of money, and each a ring of gold. 12The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers. 16After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17And Job died, an old man and full of days. (Job 42:10-17)

What does it mean to take the LORD’S name in vain?

When exploring Scripture, there are two places in which the text tells us to not take the LORD’S name in vain.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (Exodus 20:8)

‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain. (Deuteronomy 5:11)

As seen in a previous study, we explored what the LORD’S name is. But what does the word “vain” mean?

Vain Definintion
In both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, the word translated as vain is the Hebrew word “sav”. Sav is used 53 times in the Old Testament. It means empty, falsehood, lying, worthlessness (of conduct). It is from the root word sho which means devastation, ruin, waste or ravage.

The first time sav is used in the Bible is in Exodus 20:8. When Moses tells a second giving of the ten commandments, he uses the word sav in the following verse:

Neither shall you bear false (sav) witness against your neighbor. (Deuteronomy 5:20)

The words translated as “false” is the Hebrew word sav. We can see from this context, sav means to lie and be deceitful. A persons who is a false witness deceives those around him. The motives of a false witness are to harm the one whom he is testifying against. False witnesses damage the character of the other individual.

If we extend this example to taking the LORD’S name in vain, we can get a better picture of what the meaning of this phrase may be. If we take upon ourselves the name of the LORD, we can make it void (of no value or worthless) if we claim to be one thing but in reality are of another sort. Moreover, we damage God’s character.

For example, if a person claims he gives charity and is a devote man to God, if in reality he steals candy bars from the vending machine at work and only remembers God for the one hour he is at church for weekly service, he is a false witness to God. When the man’s real character is found out, his actions give God a bad name.

Shem
And this leads us to what the word name means. In Hebrew, the word for name is “shem”. Shem means character, reputation, authority, fame, glory, or memorial.

If we think about how we use the word name in our society, someone’s name is his character, reputation or memorial. When a person mentions the name Martin Luther King, Jr., we immediately conjure up a man who gave his life for the civil rights movement. Anyone in his family which bears the King name has bestowed upon him the greatness of MLKJ. If a relative of MLKJ does something which brings shame to the name, it soils the glory and honor bestowed upon it.

This same concept can be extended to God. When we say we follow God, we take upon ourselves His name. If we do something which brings shame to His name, we have made God’s name soiled.

Vain versus blaspheme
When reading Scripture, it can be easy to confuse terms. A person may believe using the LORD’S name in vain and blaspheming God is the same thing. However, it is not. The words vain and blaspheme are very different.

In Hebrew, the word often translated as blaspheme is the word “gawdaf”. Gawdaf means to revile or to reproach. Gawdaf is first used in Numbers 15.

 ‘Also, if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray by an unintentional sin, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven. 29 You shall have one law for the native among the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, for one who does anything wrong unintentionally. 30 But the person who does wrong defiantly, whether he is a native or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Since he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’” (Numbers 15:27-31)

We see from the text, to blaspheme means to despise the word of the LORD and to break His commandment. This should be a rude awakening for us. The passage states if a person does something wrong defiantly (which is in opposition to the previous text which states a person sins unintentionally), the person will bear his guilt and be cut off from his people. This means if we know something is wrong to do, and we still do it, we will bear the guilt of the sin.

We see this every day. If we intentionally tell a person a lie, the lie is often found out. A friendship may be ruined or trust is broken. The consequences for our intentional sin are often felt for many years and sometimes for many generations. Many times sin cuts us off from our family and friends.

On the contrary, an unintentional sin may never be discovered or if it is brought to light, it may have no consequences. For example, if you are at the grocery store and unintentionally grab seven sweet corn instead of six, when the cashier asks how many ears of corn you have, you reply six. Most likely nothing will ever happen due to this unintentional sin. If the cashier does count them and tells you that there are seven ears, you can apologize for miscounting. You then can ask the cashier to put back one ear of corn as you only wanted six. If the cashier does not count them, you may only discover the extra ear of corn once you get home…or if you do not prepare the food, you may never notice there were seven ears and not six ears.

If we look at the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Hebrew word gawdaf is translated into the Greek word blasphemeo.

Jesus tells us what will happen to those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit:
“Now I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before people, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God; 9 but the one who denies Me before people will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. (Luke 12:8-10)

Jesus tells us the one unpardonable sin is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. This is such a major part of Jesus’ teachings it is also included in Matthew and Mark’s Gospels.

“Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29)

The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:30-32)
Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is such a serious offense, Matthew tells is it shall not be forgiven in this age of the age to come. Again, this points us back to Numbers 15 in which blaspheming is an intentional sin. There is no sacrifice (no atonement) for intentional sin. Jesus is telling us the person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will have to endure the punishment for his sin.

Paul also tells us the fate of those who blaspheme:
This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20)

What does it mean to be handed over to Satan? I am not exactly sure, but if we look to the Book of Job, God allowed Satan to take away all of Job’s worldly goods, kill all his children and afflict Job with an awful skin affliction. Job was faithful to God. He had not done anything to merit these awful consequences. I cannot imagine what a person may go through if God was angry with the person for blaspheming.

What is God's Name?

 What is God’s Name?
A question which many people have is what is God’s name? Is there anything in Scripture which states this? The answer is yes. There are two specific places where we are told what is His name.

Moses Meets the LORD in the wilderness
Moses is in the wilderness shepherding Jethro’s flock. He sees a burning bush. He decides to turn aside and investigate the bush. The LORD introduces Himself to Moses.

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:4-6)

Since there were numerous gods during this time, the LORD introduces Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. This phrase for the rest of the Torah is almost always attached to the tetragrammaton when a proper title is needed for God.

Later in the conversation, Moses asks the LORD who should he say sent him when he goes back to the sons of Israel.
15 God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. (Exodus 3:15-16)

Jesus also uses the phrase the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when talking to the Sadducees:

On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, since you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. (Matthew 22:23-33)


I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to idols. (Isaiah 42:8)


I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will arm you, though you have not known Me,
6
So that people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
7
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:5-7)


May they be ashamed and dismayed forever,
And may they be humiliated and perish,
So that they will know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:17-18)


Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2
Serve the Lord with jubilation; 
Come before Him with rejoicing.
3
Know that the Lord He is God; 
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
 We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4
Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
 And His courtyards with praise.
 Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5
For the Lord is good;
 His mercy is everlasting
 And His faithfulness is to all generations. (Psalm 100)

Erroneously using the word Jehovah for the tetragrammaton 
Today, the word yud-hey-vav-hey is sometimes translated into English as Jehovah. This is where we get the certain phrases such as Jehovah jireh (the LORD will provide), Jehovah nissi (the LORD is our banner), Jehovah rophe (the LORD is my healer) and the religious domination Jehovah Witnesses. Translating the tetragrammaton into the word Jehovah is very inaccurate. Although we do not know how to properly say the four letters, we can be sure it is not Jehovah. There is no “j” in Hebrew.

The best guess as to how to pronounce the tetragrammaton is yahweh or yahwo-eh.

Why was the LORD’S name changed to Jehovah?
When the Bible was translated from Latin to German, the translators tried to make words sound like their Latin counterparts. In German, the “J” is pronounced like a “Y” in English. So, writing the LORD’S name as “Jehovah” would sound like “Yehovah”. This is very close to the Hebrew.
When the German Bible was translated into English, translators did not take into account that J’s in German sound like Y’s in English. Instead, they transliterated words, leaving Jehovah as Jehovah.
Does it matter how you pronounce the LORD’S name?
The answer to that question is up to you. Personally, I say yes it does. If you know how someone’s name is not pronounce, but you pronounce it wrong anyway, it is very disrespectful.

In Spanish, J’s are pronounced like H’s in English. The name Juan is pronounced wah-an. If we used English to pronounce Juan, it would be jew-an. Most English speakers know how to say the name Juan. If a man came to work for you whose name was Juan, you would not decide to pronounce his name in English as jew-an. If you did, the man probably would not respond to you.

I feel God is the same way. We know the LORD’S name is not Jehovah. We should avoid calling the LORD Jehovah. However, since we do not know His exact name, I feel it is ok to say Yahweh which is a close guess at what the actual name of God is. I see it similar to the following.

When I lived in Spain, my roommate’s name was Jessie. As mentioned above, J’s in Spanish are pronounced like H’s in English. The house mom tried listening to how Jessie pronounced her name. Since the English “J” does note exist in Spanish, the house mom tried her best to say Jessie as Jessie. However, the closest the woman could get was “Yessie”. My roommate thought it was very sweet the house mom tried her best to pronounce her name correctly. Jessie responded to the name Yessie when the house mom called for her. I cannot be sure, but I believe if we try our best to pronounce the LORD’S name as best as we can, He also will answer us.

Personally, I avoid using the word Yahweh. I feel it is too sacred of a name. I do not want to make the LORD’S name common and mundane. I often use the word God to refer to the LORD. I feel even using the word LORD (although it is just the English name for the Hebrew word Adonai) should be used as little as possible. Since God is a word which is non-specific, I feel more comfortable using it, knowing many religions around the world use the word god to represent their deities.

Chanukah 2021

 Chanukah is one of my favorite times of the year. It is a season of rejoicing, a season of thanksgiving, a season of praising the LORD. Chanukah begins at sundown on November 28.

Fast facts about Chanukah:
It occurs on the 25th of Kislev (the ninth month on the Jewish calendar)
It lasts eight days and eight nights
It is called the Festival of Lights or the Festival of Dedication
Chanukah means in Hebrew "dedication"
Chanukah spelled in Hebrew is chet-nun-vav-caf-hey
The root word of Chanukah is chet-nun-vav-caf (pronounced "Enoch" in English). Enoch was in the seventh generation from Adam. He lived 365 years before God took Enoch. "And Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer, for God had taken him" (Genesis 5:24).
Although many Christians believe Chanukah is not a biblical holiday, this is simply not true.
Chanukah has happened in the past and is prophesied to happen again in the future.

(Side note: In Judaism, everything happens in cycles. Things which have happened in the past will repeat themselves. This can be seen in the Torah reading in which the Torah is read through in a single year and then is rolled up to the beginning and started all over again. Additionally, this concept can been observed in Scripture: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun" Ecclesiastes 1:9. Chanukah has happened in the past; thus, the events of Chanukah will repeat themselves and happen in the future.)


The Number Eight
In the Bible, the number eight often signifies dedication and new beginnings. This seems apropos since Chanukah lasts for eight days and eight nights.

2 Peter 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

God saves Noah and eight people when God brings a flood to destroy the world. After the world has been washed cleaned, eight people are the start of a new beginning to the world's population.


Exodus 22:29-30 You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the firstborn of your sons shall you give unto me. Likewise shall you do with your oxen, and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eight day you shall give it to me.

For seven days a person may keep his firstborn sons and animals and first fruits of his produce, but on the eighth day, the items are to be dedicated to God.


Leviticus 9:1, 23, 24 And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

It was on the eighth day after Aaron and his sons were consecrated to become priests to the LORD that the glory of the LORD appeared at the tabernacle in the wilderness.


Chanukah in the Bible
Many Christians believe Chanukah is not a biblical event and does not appear in the Bible. This is quite erroneous. The word Chanukah appears multiple times in the Tanakh (Old Testament). The word "Chanukah" does not appear in our English translations because like most Hebrew words in our Bible, it is translated into English. Chanukah is translated into the English word "dedication".

1500 BC: Moses Tabernacle: Moses chanukah (dedicates) the tabernacle to the LORD
Numbers 7:1 And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had appointed them, and sanctified them;

Numbers 7:88 And all the animals for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty goats, and sixty lambs of the first year. The was the dedication (chanukah) of the altar after it was anointed.


1000 BC: Solomon's Temple: On the eighth day Israel chanukah (dedicates) the altar to the LORD
2 Chronicles 7:1-2 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.

2 Chronicles 7:8-9 Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt. And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication (chanukah) of the altar.


500 BC: Rebuilt Temple
Ezra 6:3a, 5a, 16 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be built, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication (chanukah) of this house of God with joy.


In short, Moses chanukah the tabernacle to the LORD in the wilderness, then Solomon's temple is chanukah to the LORD and when the temple is rebuilt in 500 BC it is chanukah to the LORD. Again and again, Israel has celebrated chanukah (dedication) of God's place of worship. When the future temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, there is no doubt there will be another chanukah (dedication) celebration to the LORD.


Additionally, many Christians will protest Chanukah is not a biblical holiday because Jesus did not celebrate it. However, again, this is a fallacy. In John 10:22-24 we read, "Now it was the Feast of Dedication (chanukah) in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly"


Chanukah has happened in the past, and it will happen again in the future.

In the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 24, Jesus and His disciples sit on the Mount of Olives. Jesus' disciples ask about signs which are to come about Messiah's second coming. What most Christians do not understand is that Jesus is describing a future chanukah. By exploring texts about a previous chanukah which happened around 168 BC, we can understand Jesus' warning about the chanukah that is yet to come.

God's Special Name: The Tetragrammaton

 LORD
In our English Bible, the Hebrew four letters yud-heh-vav-heh are often recorded as LORD. Yud-hey-vav-hey is noted in Hebrew as God’s own name or the separated, social name secular to God. It is also called the tetragrammaton. It is a name so sacred, when reading the Bible in Hebrew, the reader does not utter it. When the four letters appear in the text, the reader will usually say “Adonai” (which translates as “Lord”) if the text is read in the synagogue. If the text is read in schools, the word hashem (which translates as “the name”) is used.

 
Tradition states this special name for God was only known by the high priest. The people did not know how to pronounce the four letters. (Remember there are no vowels in Hebrew. So the four letters can be pronounced in a variety of different ways.) This protected the people from uttering the LORD’S name carelessly.

When the Tabernacle and Temple existed, God’s special name was most likely uttered when the priest pronounced a special blessing over the people:
 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:
24
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
25
The Lord cause His face to shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26
The Lord lift up His face to you,
And give you peace.’
27 So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:23-27)
The high priest also used the tetragrammaton during special occasions such as the Yom Kippur service.
The tetragrammaton used in Scripture 
The first time the tetragrammaton is used in Genesis 2:4
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens

When looking up the tetragrammaton in concordances, it states the four letters are the proper name of the one true God. It is used 6,521 times in the Old Testament. In Genesis chapters 2 and 3, the tetragrammaton is accompanied with the word God.

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:7-9)

Starting in Genesis chapter 4, the word “God” is dropped and the text starts referring  to the Almighty using only the tetragrammaton.

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; 5 but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? 7 If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:3-7)

As the population of the world grew, man’s ability to profane (or make common) God’s name occurred.

In Genesis 4:26, “the people begin to call on the name of the LORD.” This is a mistranslation. The real wording says the people began to to call in a negative way (profane) the LORD’S name. We are not directly told how the people began to profane the LORD’S name, but skipping ahead to chapter 6 where God talks about the people who inhabited the earth, we find the following:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

We get the idea from the text, to profane the LORD’S name is not just to utter it carelessly; it is to be evil and wicked. I think we can be safe to say the people were not simply uttering exclamations of “oh my Lord” or “gosh darn it”. It appears there was a deep root of wickedness which was causing vast sin on the earth. The sin was so severe, the only way for the LORD to cleanse the earth was to destroy everything except Noah, his family and limited numbers of creatures of the earth and sky.

The LORD’S name expands for clarification
In Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant goes to Abraham’s relatives. Abraham’s servant cries out to the LORD and gives a specific title:

And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. (Genesis 24:12).

From this time forth, the tetragrammaton is often accompanied by additional words for clarification. This makes sense because the world at this time was rich with pagan religions. Even using the sacred tetragrammaton, extra words needed to be added to clarify which god the person was referencing.

When Jacob flees from Paddam-aran to escape Laban, Jacob makes it all the way to Gilead before Laban overtakes him. Jacob and Laban make a covenant to promise neither one of them will not pass beyond the pile of stones to do each other harm.

Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my grandchildren, the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these daughters of mine or to their children to whom they have given birth? 44 So now come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it shall be a witness between you and me.” 45 Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial stone. 46 Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, 49 and Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.” 51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the memorial stone which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the memorial stone is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this memorial stone to me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his relatives to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. 55 Then early in the morning Laban got up, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. (Genesis 31:43-55)

We see from the text, Laban swears by the God of his fathers—Abraham, Nahor and their fathers. Jacob swears by the fear of his father Isaac. It was a common practice in ancient cultures to swear by the god(s) of one’s family. Each family had its own god. Laban probably does not understand the “God” he is swearing by is a different god than what Jacob is swearing by.

It is tradition that Abraham’s family were idolators. His father owned an idol shop in Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham knew the one true God. One day, Terah left the shop in the care of Abraham. Abraham decided to show his father how false idols were. He took a bat and broke all the idols except the largest idol. He then placed the bat in the largest idols hands. When his father returned, his father exclaimed, “Abraham! What happened? Why did you break all the idols?” Abraham replied, “I did not break them. It was the idol with the bat. A dispute broke out between the idols about who was the greatest. The largest idol took a bat and broke all the other idols.” Abraham’s father said, “You know that is not true. Idols cannot do anything.” Abraham said, “Then why do you worship them?”

It is also tradition that Abraham’s brother Haran (the father of Lot) was killed for trying to follow Abraham’s faith. Abraham was thrown into a fiery furnace for his believe in God. Abraham was not injured. Abraham came out of the fire without being burned. When Abraham’s brother, Haran, saw this, he also starting saying he believed in the God of Abraham. Haran was thrown into the furnace. He died.

Scripture gives a hint of this happening in Genesis 11:27-28
Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

*Please note, the actual Hebrew to English translation is “Haran died before the eyes of his father”. This phrase means Haran died while his father watched.

I give all this background to explain why Isaac does not agree to Laban and swear by the god of his fathers. We cannot be 100% sure, but it seems to imply from the text Nahor (Laban’s father) was an idolator. Laban has household idols (Genesis 31:30). This suggests that Laban and his family did not worship the One True God, but instead still clung to the idolatry of their father Terah. In short, it seems Laban’s fathers were idolators. Jacob’s fathers—Isaac and Abraham—were not idolators. This is one reason as history continues, the LORD’S name becomes longer to clarify which LORD or which God the person is referencing.

The Third Commandment: God & Elohim

 Hebrew
The Hebrew word for God is Elohim. Elohim is a non-specific word. It is used 2,600 times in the Old Testament. Elohim means the following: rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, gods, god, goddess, works or special possessions or the true God. The word “God” is first used in Genesis 1:1. All of chapter one of Genesis uses only God to describe the Creator of the universe. In Genesis 2:4, it changes to LORD God. From Genesis 2:4 onward, the word “God” begins to take on many forms and is used for many gods.

When Jacob, Leah, Rachel and their families flee from Laban, Rachel steals her father’s idols. We see in the text below, the word translated as “gods” in English is the Hebrew word “elohim”.

 And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with tambourine and with lyre; 28 and did not allow me to kiss my grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. 29 It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ 30 Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. (Genesis 31:25-32)

In fact, since there is no differentiation between a pagan god and the God who Created the universe, the word elohim (which can mean God or gods) is sometimes mistranslated in our Bibles.

During the Golden Calf incident, most Bibles read as follows:
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ (Exodus 32:1-8)
 

There is an issue with the text. Translating the word elohim as “gods” means there would be multiple idols. However, we clearly see in the text, there is only one idol. The translators messed up. The word elohim in the Hebrew text is referring to God, the Creator of the universe. The children of Israel where trying to make a physical representation of the LORD God. There were not trying to make a pagan god. Since they did not know what God looked like, they created Him as an ox, which is derived from the ancient Hebrew. Ancient Hebrew used pictures. One of the pictures used to write God’s name in Ancient Hebrew was an ox head.

A repeat of the text is seen in Nehemiah chapter 9. In the Book of Nehemiah, the text is correctly translated:


“You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies. (Nehemiah 9:13-18)

If you were God, would you have a name which is common and can be confused with man-made deities?


The answer would be no. We do this even in our culture today. Names we give to children are combined with surnames to avoid confusion. If we only called people by a first name, the person’s identity would be lost. I know about 20 people called Michelle. If someone refers to “Michelle” I often have no idea which Michelle the person is referencing. Using a surname helps clarify the person identity. However, even with using last names, many people have the same name. Growing up, I had two Mike Millers in my class. Their identities were sometimes mixed up. To help keep track of who was who, they used a middle initial to differentiate between the two boys.

Today, the trend in baby names is to have something unique. People spell common names using extra letters (Ashley is spelled Asheleigh) or unique names are used such as Soleil and Kauai. Parents do not want their child’s name to be confused with anyone else’s.

God is the same way. He does not want His name to be confused with any other deity. He has a special name which only applies to Him.

The Third Commandment: What is God’s name?

 When studying the ten commandments, one of the commandments which is often misconstrued is the third commandment. Many people have told me a person is to not take God’s name in vain. When asked what God’s name is, I will receive the response, “God.” If you look at the actual commandment, the wording does not say: “Do not take God’s name in vain” rather it states “not to take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

When reading the text, a few questions should jump out. What is the name of the LORD? Furthermore, what does the word LORD mean? Scripture says the LORD will not leave him guiltless. Is the LORD God or is God God? Through this study, I hope to answer these questions.


God vs. LORD. What is the difference?
When reading through Scripture, it can be easy to gloss over terminology such as God and LORD. Was it God who created the earth or was it the LORD or was it the LORD God? Many people feel these word variations do not matter, but to actually understand the text, words are essential.

God
The word God is first mentioned in Genesis 1:1.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

For the rest of Genesis chapter 1, the word God alone is used to describe the creation story. The word God is used 28 times from Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3. When reading the text, the entire creation story is given in these verses. Oddly, starting in Genesis 2:4. the creation story is told again for a second time. However, now, the creation story states it was the LORD God who created everything.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. (Genesis 2:4)

Examining the words, one could wonder why did the phrasing change from God creating everything to the LORD God creating everything? One theory is that starting in Genesis 2:4, we have more details about the creation story. Adam is given the command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A more intimate relationship seems to be given between Adam and his Creator. As we will see later in the study, the word LORD is God’s more personal name.

Meaning of the word God
God is a formal and informal name. In English, God can be capitalized to indicate a specific god or lower case to indicate god as non-specific or multiple gods.

Each monotheistic religion refers to its god using different names, some referring to cultural ideas about the god's identity and attributes. In ancient Egyptian Atenism, this deity was called Aten and proclaimed to be the one "true" Supreme Being and creator of the universe. When referencing the God of the Egyptians, the “g” in god is capitalized.

In the Hebrew Bible, the titles of God include Elohim (God), Adonai (Lord) and others, and the name YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה).

In Islam, the title God ("Allah" in the Arabic language) is often used as a name, while Muslims also use a multitude of other titles for God. Allāh (Arabic: الله) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God”.

In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic concept of God.

In Chinese religion, Shangdi is conceived as the progenitor (first ancestor) of the universe, intrinsic to it and constantly bringing order to it.

Other names for God include Baha in the Baháʼí Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa in Balinese Hinduism.

Some gods have made their way into the English language. Have you heard of the car brand called Mazda? Mazda is the shortened form of Ahura Mazda “Mazda” the main God in Zoroastrianism.

In the English language, capitalization is used when the word is used as a proper noun, as well as for other names by which a god is known. For example, the God of Sikhism is Waheguru. This name is proper and is capitalized.

Consequently, the capitalized form of god is not used for multiple gods or when used to refer to the generic idea of a deity. The English word God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all.
The generic English word “god” or “God” has little meaning in the language as it can refer to any number of gods.
As in most religions, the word god is not specific to any one deity. Instead, like its counterpart in Hebrew El (god) or elohim (gods), the term can be used for any multitude of thoughts or ideas.


Below is a breakdown of the religions in the USA.
Religion in the USA
  Protestant (42%)
  Catholic (21%)
  Mormon (2%)
  Unaffiliated (18%)
  Atheist (5%)
  Agnostic (6%)
  Jewish (2%)
  Muslim (1%)
  Hindu (1%)
  Buddhist (1%)
  Other religion (2%)
  Unanswered (1%)

You can see, a large percentage of the USA does not believe in any Supreme Being, and many do not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For these people, using the word “god” can have any connotation including none at all.

Religions of the World:
Atheism/Agnosticism
Bahá’í-Persian/Iran; teaches the value of all religions
Buddhism-reaching nirvana; zen practices-self control & meditation
Christianity
Confucianism-Ancient China
Druze-Descendants from Jetrho. N Syria
Gnosticism
Hinduism
Islam
Jainism-India: non-attachment, absence of pleasure
Judaism
Rastafarianism-Caribbean
Shinto-Japan; spirits & public shrines; Mulan
Sikhism-Punjabi region: E Pakistan & N India; monotheist
Zoroastrianism-Daniel & Babylon
Traditional African Religions
African Diaspora Religions
Indigenous American Religions

Atheists do not believe in the existence of a god.
An atheist does not believe in God. Not just the capital G god but any gods at all. Atheists do not believe in the concept of God, and they reject the proposition that a god exists in our universe or any other.
 

Agnostics do not make a conclusive statement on the existence of a god.
Agnostics are generally not committed to the existence or non-existence of a god due to the lack of conclusive knowledge available to them.

Some agnostics are genuinely on the fence, or indifferent. Some agnostics do believe that a god may exist, but they do not have the observational knowledge available to them to make an accurate statement or to inform an unwavering belief.

Who will inherit the earth? (Part 3)

As we continue our study through the Bible about who will inherit the earth, it is best to examine Scripture to see what it says about the inheritance rights of the land.

More passages about who will be left behind
Matthew 13:24-30
24Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Looking at this parable, who are the ones to be gathered first. According to verse 30, the tares are gathered first and burned in the fire; the wheat is left behind and gathered in the barn.

Proverbs 2:21-22
For the upright will live in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
22
But the wicked will be eliminated from the land,
And the treacherous will be torn away from it.

Proverbs 10:25
When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.


Proverbs 10:30
The righteous will never be removed,
But the wicked will not live in the land.


Psalm 52:1-5
Why do you boast in evil, you mighty man?
The faithfulness of God endures all day long.
2
Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3
You love evil more than good,
Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
4
You love all words that devour,
You deceitful tongue.
5
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah


Psalm 125:1
Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.

Psalm 37:1-3, 7-9, 18-22, 21-22, 27-29, 34-40
1Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

7Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
10For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

18The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

21The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

27Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.

34Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

37Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
38But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
40And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

Verses 10, 34 and 36 talks about the wicked being cut off. They were sought for, but they could not be found. If the righteous are taken out of the earth first, how is it the righteous will be searching for the wicked, but they will not be found? The righteous must be the ones left behind, and the wicked must be the ones taken.

Verse 37:11 is what Jesus is quoting in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”


Going back to Matthew 24:
Verses 48-50: “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time’; and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with this habitually drunk; then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and he will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In verses 48-50, we are given some more details about what the time of the coming of the Son of Man will be like. We are given a story about a slave who says in his heart that his master will not be returning. The salve goes wild. he gets drunk and beats his fellow slaves. he does not expect the return of his master. When his master comes back, the slave is cut in two, assigned a place with the hypocrites and in that place there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Again, this story demonstrates the slaves stops being obedient and starts living worldly ways. He is mean and does not attend to his duties. (We can glean the slave is disobedient. How many drunks do you know are able to hold down a job and attend to all the responsibilities required of him?) When the master comes home, the slave is cut in two. We can assume this is an idiom for the slave is killed. The slave is taken out of the earth and is put in a place where the hypocrites are. The place sounds pretty awful. They weep and gnash their teeth. It does not sound as though the place where the slave is taken is a place where those who were righteous and following God would go. It sounds as though these people are lamenting and are bitter they are suffering.


Where is the kingdom going to be?
1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:1-8)

According to verse 2, where is the new earth going to be? It will come down out of heaven and be here on earth. If the wicked are the ones left behind, they will be the ones to inherit the New Jerusalem. God makes it clear in verse 7 who is it who will inherit the earth, it will be he who overcomes. In verse 8 we are told those who commit all sorts of sins will have their inheritance in the lake of fire which burns fire and brimstone.

Again, the accords with Scripture that the righteous shall live on the earth and the wicked shall be taken away to a place where there will be death. As popular as the book series Left Behind is, it is misguided and does not align with Scripture. It makes a good story line that the righteous will be taken away and the wicked will wonder where the righteous went, but actually Scripture tells us the exact opposite is true. The righteous will be left behind and the wicked will be taken away. The wicked will be searched for but they will not be found.

Who Will Inherit the Earth (Part 2)

In last week's study, we explored Matthew 24 in which Jesus gives us a long dialog about the coming times. Some of the events were for the immediate future when Jerusalem was laid siege by the Romans. But as always, anything which had a first coming, the prophecy is also applicable to a second coming. Continuing from last week, let's pick up from where we let off.

Verses 36-41: “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time, there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”

Like the days of Noah
We are told the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. Let’s review a little bit of what life was like during the days of Noah.

Genesis 6:5-8
5Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

We have in the text, man was wicked and his intentions were continually evil. God was sorry He had made man. He decides He will destroy man; however, a man named Noah found favor in His eyes. Summarizing the rest of the story, God commands Noah to build the ark. Noah saves two of every animal and seven pairs of birds and clean animals. Noah and his family enter the ark. A worldwide flood destroys the wicked from the face of the earth. Noah and his family (his wife, plus his three sons and their wives) are spared.

We can sum up Noah’s story as the wicked are slain and taken out of the earth. Noah and his family are spared. They make it through the flood, and they are the ones who are left behind. They are the ones who inherit the earth. From Noah and his three sons, man begins again.

Back to Matthew 24
Jesus states at the end of verse 39, the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. In verses 40 and 41 it says there will be two people doing an activity. One will be taken and one will be left. This is where I believe the left behind series gets its concept that the wicked will be left behind while the righteous will be taken out of the earth. However, if we continue to follow the text and examples which have been laid out, the wicked are the ones taken out of the earth. It is the righteous who are left behind.

When the flood comes, Noah and his family survive. It is the wicked who perish. We are told where the bodies are, there the birds of prey will gather. When the wicked are slain, the birds of the air will come down and eat up their corpses. The righteous will still be alive. The birds of prey will not come and eat up the righteous. To get a little bit more clarity on this topic, let’s turn to Luke 17 where Jesus gives us a similar dialogue about the what will happen in the time to come.


Luke 17:20-37
20Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
22And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32Remember Lot’s wife. 33Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36[Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] 37And answering they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

Key Similarities
Again, We have Jesus saying the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. He then continues and states it was the same as in the time of Lot. Everyone was going about their daily lives when fire and brimstone came down and destroyed the valley cities, but Lot escaped.

Lot and the Valley Cities
In Genesis 18, the LORD and two angels appear to Abraham. Abraham entertains his guests by preparing a meal for them. Abraham is given a promise that a son will be born to him. Before the LORD and the angels leave, we learn Sodom and the surrounding cities are very wicked.

Genesis 18:17-21
17The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 19For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” 20And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

For the rest of Genesis 18, Abraham pleads with the LORD to not destroy the valley cities. When Abraham bargains for the valley to be spared for ten righteous people, the LORD departs from Abraham.

In Genesis 19, we have the story about Lot entertaining two angels. He makes them a meal. In the morning, the angels take Abraham, his wife and his tow daughters and forces them to flee Sodom. Sodom and the valley cities are destroyed with fire and brimstone.

To summarize, Lot is saved while the wicked men of the valley are killed. Lot is allowed to live; the wicked perish. Lot’s story is very similar to Noah. Lot and Noah live. The wicked are destroyed by a natural disaster.


Two will be taken, one left
Again, Jesus gives us the analogy of two people doing an activity. One will be taken and one will be left. Using both Noah’s and Lot’s stories, we know the righteous are left behind and the wicked are taken away.

In Luke 37, we have the disciplines asking Jesus a question. The question seems incomplete and states, “Where, Lord?” Jesus gives an answer where the vultures are there the bodies will be.

We have a two options to choose from in verse 37. One, the disciples are asking what happens to the people left behind on the earth, or two, what happens to those who are taken away. If we believe the disciples want to know what happens to those left behind, that seems like a dumb question.

It would be like me telling you a story about a mom and her daughter are cooking in the kitchen. The phone rings. The daughter leaves. You then ask me, “Where is the mom?” That would be a really odd question. The mom is in the kitchen cooking. The more logic question is, “Where did the daughter go?”

If we assume the disciples are asking where those who are taken go, Jesus’ response make a lot of sense. He states where the bodies are, there the vultures will be. Henceforth, those taken out of the earth are slain. Where they bodies appear, the birds of prey will gather and eat. Again, we know birds of prey do not like to eat healthy individuals. So, if the disciplines are asking what happens to those left behind, Jesus’ answer makes little sense that the birds of prey will be gathered around them. We are not told anything happens to those left behind. They will be just like Noah and Lot. Both of those individuals lived a full life on the earth. Both those individuals were left behind to continue living.