Yahweh, The God of Israel

This is Yahweh, the creator of the universe, often just called God.

Obviously describing the one who created me and gave me the ability to write this text is a humbling task. I cannot hope, with my human mind, to understand the one who knows every though, both present and past, of every man and woman who ever walked on this earth.

His Name is Yahweh

These verses are from the book of Exodus, when Yahweh tells Moses to go back Egypt

Moses said to God, "What if I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your forefathers has sent me to you' and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?"Exodus 3:13

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3:14

God also said to Moses: "Tell the Israelites that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations. Exodus 3:15

And this is another verse from later in the book of Exodus

"Then God spoke all these words. He said, 'I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. You shall have no other gods to rival me.'" Exodus 20:1-3

Many bible translation replaces the name of Yahweh with "Lord" or "God" even though He clearly says that "Please always call me Yahweh!", even using the quite strong words of "forever" and "to all generations".

The original hebrew text use the four letters יהוה which is usually rendered as "YHWH" in English, and Yahweh when transliterated. This is what God/Yahweh insists that we call him.

It's not clear how these four letters are to be pronounced but many scholars agree that Yahweh is the way to say God's name in English. Most scholars also agree that the older version Jehovah is based on a misunderstanding on how the hebrew bible is meant to be read.

Here's some external links that discuss the name of Yahweh

• YAHWEH, the name of God by Christopher C. Warren and The New Covenant Church of God, Arvika, Sweden
• Is "Jehovah" the Name of God? by Jason Dulle of Apostolic Network Ministries
• The Sacred Names of God by Mission to Israel Ministries