– The senseless one has said in his heart: “There is no Jehovah.” They have acted ruinously, they have acted detestably in [their] dealing. There is no one doing good. – Psalm 14:1
Importance of the Divine Name in our worship
A name is something that we hold dear to us. It identifies us; sets us apart from others and makes us unique. Who would any of us be without our name to make us different from others around us? How would we ever come to know someone if they did not have a name? In fact it is one of the first things that we learn about someone when we start a relationship with them. What is your name? Who are you? It is obvious that the author of the Bible wants each and every one of us to come to know him in a personal way. In fact he has gone through great lengths to make sure that we know who he is, what he stands for, and what his principles, standards and intentions are.
Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies that has happened in our modern era is the removal of the divine name, Jehovah, from its rightful place in the scriptures. What has this accomplished? It has resulted in the masses of human kind being deprived of the greatest priviledge in history, that of knowing the only true God Jehovah and having a personal relationship with him.
Could you imagine if someone was systematically trying to remove your entire record of existence from all legal documents, your birth certificate, driver’s license, deeds, titles, etc? How would you feel if your name was being removed from every rightful place that it existed? It would certainly be disheartening wouldn’t it?
Though Scripturally designated by such descriptive titles as “God,” “Sovereign Lord,” “Creator,” “Father,” “the Almighty,” and “the Most High,” his personality and attributes—who and what he is—are fully summed up and expressed only in this personal name, Jehovah.
Many have tried to stamp out Jehovah’s name in favor of promoting Jesus as Almighty God. The churches in Christendom most of which believe in the trinity teach their followers varying forms of this doctrine in general church creed.
The Trinity Doctrine Takes Form
The Catholic Encyclopedia calls the Trinity teaching “the central doctrine of the Christian religion,” defining it this way:
“In the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: ‘the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.’ . . . The Persons are co-eternal and co-equal: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent.”
The Baptist Encyclopædia gives a similar definition. It says:
“[Jesus] is . . . the eternal Jehovah . . . The Holy Spirit is Jehovah . . . The Son and Spirit are placed on an exact equality with the Father. If he is Jehovah so are they.”
In 325 C.E., a council of bishops in Nicea in Asia Minor formulated a creed that declared the Son of God to be “true God” just as the Father was “true God.” Part of that creed stated:
“But as for those who say, There was [a time] when [the Son] was not, and, Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or is created, or is subject to alteration or change—these the Catholic Church anathematizes.”
Thus, anyone who believed that the Son of God was not coeternal with the Father or that the Son was created was consigned to everlasting damnation. One can imagine the pressure to conform that this put on the mass of ordinary believers.
In the year 381 C.E., another council met in Constantinople and declared that the holy spirit should be worshiped and glorified just as the Father and Son were. One year later, in 382 C.E., another synod met in Constantinople and affirmed the full divinity of the holy spirit. That same year, before a council in Rome, Pope Damasus presented a collection of teachings to be condemned by the church. The document, called the Tome of Damasus, included the following statements:
“If anyone denies that the Father is eternal, that the Son is eternal, and that the Holy Spirit is eternal: he is a heretic.”
“If anyone denies that the Son of God is true God, just as the Father is true God, having all power, knowing all things, and equal to the Father: he is a heretic.”
“If anyone denies that the Holy Spirit . . . is true God . . . has all power and knows all things, . . . he is a heretic.”
“If anyone denies that the three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are true persons, equal, eternal, containing all things visible and invisible, that they are omnipotent, . . . he is a heretic.”
“If anyone says that [the Son who was] made flesh was not in heaven with the Father while he was on earth: he is a heretic.”
“If anyone, while saying that the Father is God and the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, . . . does not say that they are one God, . . . he is a heretic.”
The Jesuit scholars who translated the foregoing from Latin added the comment: “Pope St. Celestine I (422-32) apparently considered these canons law; they may be considered definitions of faith.” And scholar Edmund J. Fortman asserts that the tome represents “sound and solid trinitarian doctrine.”
Does it sound familiar?
Throughout the ancient world, as far back as Babylonia, the worship of pagan gods grouped in threes, or triads, was common. That influence was also prevalent in Egypt, Greece, and Rome in the centuries before, during, and after Christ. And after the death of the apostles, such pagan beliefs began to invade Christianity.
Historian Will Durant observed: “Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. . . . From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity.” And in the book Egyptian Religion, Siegfried Morenz notes: “The trinity was a major preoccupation of Egyptian theologians . . . Three gods are combined and treated as a single being, addressed in the singular. In this way the spiritual force of Egyptian religion shows a direct link with Christian theology.”
Thus, in Alexandria, Egypt, churchmen of the late third and early fourth centuries, such as Athanasius, reflected this influence as they formulated ideas that led to the Trinity. Their own influence spread, so that Morenz considers “Alexandrian theology as the intermediary between the Egyptian religious heritage and Christianity.”
In the preface to Edward Gibbon’s History of Christianity, we read: “If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism of the first Christians . . . was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief.”
A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge notes that many say that the Trinity “is a corruption borrowed from the heathen religions, and ingrafted on the Christian faith.” And The Paganism in Our Christianity declares: “The origin of the [Trinity] is entirely pagan.”
That is why, in the Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings wrote: “In Indian religion, e.g., we meet with the trinitarian group of Brahmā, Siva, and Viṣṇu; and in Egyptian religion with the trinitarian group of Osiris, Isis, and Horus . . . Nor is it only in historical religions that we find God viewed as a Trinity. One recalls in particular the Neo-Platonic view of the Supreme or Ultimate Reality,” which is “triadically represented.” What does the Greek philosopher Plato have to do with the Trinity?
A Deviation is foretold by Jesus and His Apostles
Jesus and his apostles foretold that a time of great deviation from what was taught as truth during their time would happen. It was referred to as the the apostasy, or falling away from true worship until Christ’s return, when true worship would be restored.
Regarding that “day,” the apostle Paul said: “It will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 7) Later, he foretold: “When I have gone fierce wolves will invade you and will have no mercy on the flock. Even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them.” (Acts 20:29, 30, JB) Other disciples of Jesus also wrote of this apostasy with its ‘lawless’ clergy class.—See, for example, 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1-3; Jude 3, 4.
Jesus himself explained what was behind this falling away from true worship. He said that he had sowed good seeds but that the enemy, Satan, would oversow the field with weeds. So along with the first blades of wheat, the weeds appeared also. Thus, a deviation from pure Christianity was to be expected until the harvest, when Christ would set matters right. (Matthew 13:24-43) The Encyclopedia Americana comments: “Fourth century Trinitarianism did not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God; it was, on the contrary, a deviation from this teaching.”
Questions Trinitarians Should Ask
Why, for thousands of years, did none of God’s prophets teach his people about the Trinity? At the latest, would Jesus not use his ability as the Great Teacher to make the Trinity clear to his followers? Would God inspire hundreds of pages of Scripture and yet not use any of this instruction to teach the Trinity if it were the “central doctrine” of faith?
Are Christians to believe that centuries after Christ and after having inspired the writing of the Bible, God would back the formulation of a doctrine that was unknown to his servants for thousands of years, one that is an “inscrutable mystery” “beyond the grasp of human reason,” one that admittedly had a pagan background and was “largely a matter of church politics”?
Which name is most common in the Bible Jesus or Jehovah
If you said Jesus, then you would be correct in that answer when looking at most “modernized” Bible translations found on bookshelves these days. In the Old Testament, the almost 7000 times that the name Jehovah was listed in the original texts have been spuriously replaced in most of today’s Bible translations with unjustified replacements with LORD or GOD in the place of the original name of Jehovah. We could definitely say that today’s religious leaders and so called learned men are trying to make people forget about the Sovereign of the Universe.
In fact the following is a break down of how Jehovah’s name appears in the Bible:
1. Jehovah – Over 6000
2. David – 1127
3. Jesus – 981
Jason David Debuhn in his book Truth In Translation stated about the use of Jehovah’s name in the Old Testament, “…the NW is the only accurate translation of the nine we are comparing, since all of the other translations replace the personal name of God, in over six thousand passages, with the euphemistic title “Lord” (given by many of these translations in all capitals, as “LORD”,” which my studnets invariably misunderstand as some sort of emphasis). YHWH does appear in the original Hebrew of these passages, and the only accurate translation is one that renders that name into some pronouncible form. The NW rightly does this; the others do not.”
How long will it exist in the heart of the prophets who are prophesying the falsehood and who are prophets of the trickiness of their own heart? 27 They are thinking of making my people forget my name by means of their dreams that they keep relating each one to the other, just as their fathers forgot my name by means of Ba′al. – Jeremiah 23:27
…The very ones ruling over them kept howling,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and constantly, all day long, my name was being treated with disrespect. 6 For that reason my people will know my name, even for that reason in that day, because I am the One that is speaking. Look! It is I.” – Isaiah 52:5,6
Is it “un-Christian” to think that Jesus is inferior to Jehovah?
Jesus NEVER claimed or said that he was God the Almighty or even hinted at being equally as powerful as his heavenly father Jehovah. In fact he plainly stated at John 14:28:
YOU heard that I said to YOU, I am going away and I am coming [back] to YOU. If YOU loved me, YOU would rejoice that I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.
Would Jesus lyingly make a statement that he was subordinate to his father Jehovah if he was not? Hardly. In fact Jesus told Mary after seeing her following his resurrection (Note Jesus here was not bound by the limitations of his fleshly body):
Jesus said to her: “Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the Father. But be on your way to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and YOUR Father and to my God and YOUR God.’”
Jesus wanted Mary and all others to know that he also worshipped Jehovah as his God and Father.
“I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images – Isaiah 42:8
Jehovah’s name appears in architecture all over the world
Some critics have said before that Jehovah’s name was never used. If that were the case how is it explained that in many parts of the world Jehovah’s name decorates a number of historic structures.
Czech Republic:
Perhaps the best-known example of the Tetragrammaton is on the Charles Bridge, built in 1357 across the lovely Vltava River, near the Old Town of Prague. This bridge is lined on both sides with sculptures, one of which catches the eye of almost everyone who passes. It is a statue of Jesus Christ on a cross, encircled by gleaming gold Hebrew characters—including the Tetragrammaton—that read “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies.”
How did this expression, found in the Bible at Isaiah 6:3, come to be on this statue? An inscription on its base tells of a Jew who passed by one day in 1696 and supposedly spoke irreverently about the cross. Because of this, he was brought before the Royal Court of Appeal and was sentenced to pay a penalty. In payment he provided a gilded halo for the cross, with the above citation.
Nearby are the Old-New Synagogue and the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe. In this synagogue the cantor’s stand bears the Tetragrammaton in a silver frame. But it is not only in Jewish buildings that the Tetragrammaton is to be found. Southeast of Prague, on a rocky spur overlooking the Sázava River, stands the medieval castle of Český Šternberk. Over the altar of the castle chapel are four golden letters—the Tetragrammaton. The letters appear to float in the air, as they are suspended on wires. Behind them a light gleams—but not from a lamp! A skylight, which cannot be seen from inside, casts a rosy glow on the white altar, above which the Tetragrammaton hovers.
The Tetragrammaton also appears in frescoes in other Czech buildings. They give further testimony that in the past many here were familiar with the name of God.
Slovenia:
Over the centuries, churches and monasteries were erected on hilltops all across Europe. These ancient buildings range from the Romanesque style of the Middle Ages—with its typically thick walls and heavy, curved arches—to the ornate and dramatic baroque of later centuries. Interestingly, inside many of these buildings can be found the Tetragrammaton, the four Hebrew letters of God’s personal name.
For example, consider the abbey of Stična, one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries, located in Slovenia. It was built in 1135, only some 40 years after the Cistercian monastic order was founded in France. Although the abbey has been renovated a number of times, it retains its original Romanesque style, now with baroque embellishments. The interior is decorated with various paintings and statues. One side altar is decorated with the large gold letters of the Tetragrammaton framed by a ring of silver.
The town of Slovenj Gradec is first mentioned in written records as far back as the tenth century. A Gothic church-hospital was built there in 1419. An entire inside wall is devoted to a 15th-century fresco depicting 27 Biblical scenes. It begins with the resurrection of Lazarus and concludes with Pentecost. In another location in the same building, the name of God is displayed in Hebrew in black characters on a gold background.
In the northwest region of the country is the town of Radovljica. In the 1400’s, the small settlement was encompassed by walls and a moat and consisted of a castle, a church, and various other buildings. A gold plaque on one of the church altars bears the Tetragrammaton.
Near the small village of Podčetrtek stands an ancient monastery that traces its origin to the 17th century. Inside, a careful observer will find a fresco embellished with the divine name.
Others:
In the cathedral at Grenoble, France, can be seen an example of the four-letter name, though it is upside down; also in Switzerland, in the Jesuit church at Einsiedeln, in the canton of Schwyz, it appears high up in the ceiling. And in St. Martin’s Church at Olten, Switzerland, in the prominent place usually occupied by the Tetragrammaton, church decorators have placed the name JEHOVAH, spelled out in full.
In St. Nicholas Chapel, on England’s Isle of Wight, visitors can still see the Tetragrammaton in a prominent place on the ceiling. And in the royal city of Edinburgh, over the entrance of the choir room of St. Mary’s Cathedral, the name “JEHOVA” appears in an inscription dated 1614. Also, the city of Plymouth has, on its municipal coat of arms the legend: “The name of Jehovah is the strongest tower.” (Prov. 18:10) Even Westminster Abbey, London, is not without its specimen of the four-letter Hebrew name of the Creator.
King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (1588-1648) was another monarch of Christendom who professed recognition of Jehovah. On Copenhagen’s Round Tower, on Købmagergade, completed in 1642, he arranged for a rebus inscription that may be translated: “May true teaching and righteousness guide, Jehovah, in the heart of the crowned Christian IV.” Elsewhere in Denmark are to be found examples of prominent use of the Tetragrammaton: above the altarpiece in St. Paul’s Church on Bornholm; in churches at Tønder and Møgeltønder; on the outside gable of the Holmens Kirke (Dockyard Church) in Copenhagen.
King Christian also accorded to the four-letter Hebrew name of the Creator a prominent place on the ceiling of the hall at Frederiksborg Castle, Hilleröd. Also, one of his coins, dated 1644, bears the inscription “יהוה Justus Judex” or “Jehovah the righteous Judge.”
In Sweden, in the Church of St. Mary, Hälsingborg, the Tetragrammaton appears in a rail before the altar. In Finland it is to be noted over the west door of St. Charles Church in Helsinki, as well as in Kuopio Cathedral, the new church in Kauhajoki, East Bothnia, in an old church in the market town of Lohja, and in Oulu Cathedral in the north.
As part of the religious decoration of the Baroque Period the Tetragrammaton symbol found its way across the ocean to the Americas. In St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Parish, New York city, a structure completed in 1776, the four Hebrew letters of the divine name appear immediately above the altar. Also, they are to be noted at the center of the arch above the altar, in a gilded, wooden cartouche depicting the rays of the sun. Also, in Trinity Church on Wall Street, in stained-glass windows above the altar, appear letters that are representative of the divine name.
Final Conclusion
The name Jehovah is the name of the only true God and to no one else, including his Son does he ascribe the title of Almighty God. The name which literally means “He Causes to Become” describes Jehovah as a loving God who can do whatever it takes to bring about his purpose. All who claim to be Christian should ascribe the glory and honor to Jesus father Jehovah, because Jesus certainly did.
When at last Jesus fully accomplishes his Father’s will by means of his glorious Kingdom, Jesus himself will bow down to his heavenly Father and hand the Kingdom back to his Father.
Next, the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. 25 For he must rule as king until [God] has put all enemies under his feet. 26 As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing. 27 For [God] “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that it is with the exception of the one who subjected all things to him. 28 But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.
Kingdom Blessings 