The Name
A Riddle for the Logical Mind
Three verses. One logical answer. Can you find it?
-
Exodus 3:15 (KJV) And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD [Yahuah] God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
-
Jeremiah 23:27 (KJV) Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
-
Hosea 2:16 (KJV) And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD [Yahuah], that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
Read all three. Lay them side by side. What must be true?
The prophet who saw it coming named the trade.
Hosea 2:17 (KJV) For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
- His name is for every generation, ours included. — Exodus 3:15
- Forgetting His name meant trading it for Baal. — Jeremiah 23:27
- Baali means "my lord," and He said to call Him that no more. — Hosea 2:16
Replacing the Name with "the LORD" is the very trade the prophets condemned.
Note: Baal means lord, master, owner.
Why It Matters
The church says the name does not matter, and that "the LORD" and "God" are titles of reverence. Yahuah said the opposite at the burning bush: "this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:15). The name was given with no end date.
Jeremiah shows how a people loses it. The false prophets "think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams... as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal" (Jeremiah 23:27). The name was not taken by force. It faded from the pulpit, one sermon at a time, and Baal filled the space. Baal simply means lord or master. Hosea records Yahuah's answer: "thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali" (Hosea 2:16). The title the church calls reverent is the title Yahuah asked His bride to stop using.
The habit grew from a tradition that the name was too holy to speak. That rule is not in the Law. The third commandment forbids taking the name in vain (Exodus 20:7). The Hebrew nasa means to lift or carry, and a name that cannot be spoken cannot be carried, in vain or otherwise. Later Greek copies of the Old Testament wrote kurios in its place, and English Bibles printed LORD. Reverence that hides what Yahuah commanded to be remembered is not reverence.
This matters because the name is what is called upon. Joel says "whosoever shall call on the name of Yahuah shall be delivered" (Joel 2:32), and Paul repeats it for the nations (Romans 10:13). Malachi records a book of remembrance written "for them that feared Yahuah, and that thought upon his name" (Malachi 3:16). Yahushua said, "I have declared unto them thy name" (John 17:26). The Son came to restore what the prophets of dreams had buried.
Revelation commends the assembly that "hast not denied my name" (Revelation 3:8). It ends with that name on the foreheads of the redeemed (Revelation 14:1). See also "Why the Names Matter" on nazaryah.com.