WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 17
Volume 26, Issue 4
How Shall We Call Him?
By Barbara L. Klika, MSW, Undershepherd, Set Apart Ministries
ing that we are but dust, and that it is only by His grace that we could stand at all! On the one hand, we are grateful for His grace, and know that He will honor the hearts of those who genuinely call on His Name, however they understand it to be called or pronounced. On the other hand, we do NOT think that this means that any name or title associated with a “god” will do! For those of us who have understood that we are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel, we do know without a doubt that our Mighty One is the Mighty One of Israel. Yet as we have embraced our identity realizing that we have been grafted into the tree of Israel by faith, an identity crisis and how to “call” on Him has arisen. Having come to faith under the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, do we now have to abandon that Name all together? (Early church fathers DID direct people to distance themselves from any- thing even remotely connected with Hebrew understanding.) If we do, how do we know which way to say or spell it is correct? Does it really matter? We have had a statement on our website for many years now about the use of the Name of Jesus or any of the various ways of transliterating His Hebrew name into English. This statement was established because of the controversy over how it is done, espe- cially when we learned that one particular way of transliterating it carried an entire message that we had not realized it did! Examples: Yahshua, Yeshua, Yehoshua, and so forth. We don’t believe that there is only one correct transliteration, nor that a transliteration should even be an issue! It became evident some time ago, too, that we needed to be certain to declare that we do believe Jesus/Yeshua to be one with the Father as that is also a hot topic, though not a new one by any means! We are seeing the cyclical controversy over our Messiah intensify just as we are told it would as we draw nearer to His return. There is a resounding crash going on between those who see Him as a Prophet and those who see Him as the Son of God. There is perhaps a more subtle crash as people debate whether He is actually God or a representative of God. We are hearing from more people and fellowships again that have been torn apart as some decided to re- nounce Yeshua, thinking only YHWH is needed. We continue our efforts to provide apologetic support for those who are facing these
August 2025 Editor, Rob Pue, relayed a reader’s question about the importance of using the Name of our God. This is something that few people in western Christianity seem to recognize as a potential issue. We have grown accustomed to the use of the titles more than His Name. I do believe that this has led to confusion and uncertainty as to the identify of WHO our God is, especially with the tendency in Western Christianity to minimize the importance of the Old Testament. The question of the correct way to address our God and Our Mes- siah usually only comes up when one is doing a deeper study of the Word, and in the original languages. There is a difference between a translation, which gives the meaning of the word and a transliter- ation which simply reproduces the sounds of the word from one lan- guage to another. We have 3 separate articles on our Set Apart Ministries website, going into these issues in more depth. The series is called: How Shall We Call Him?” You can find it here: https://set-apart-ministries.org/how-shall-we-call-him/ This article is a condensation of the three. We understand that our Abba has provided His Name so that we MAY use it call on Him and to honor Him! “And God said moreover unto Moses, ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD 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.” (Exodus 3:15). “Thy name, O LORD, [endureth] for ever; [and] Thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.” (Psalm 135:13). The word translated as “LORD” is YHWH, or Yehovah, or any of the various transliterations; Strong’s # 3068, “the existing One” from the root word “haya” Strong’s #1961, meaning to be, to become, come to pass, exist. “Lord” can also come from the Hebrew, “Adonai,” and is also a title, such as “Master.” It can also be used of our God, as in Lord God of Abraham and just as truthfully as Lord Ba’al or other “little g” gods. The word translated as “God” is from the Hebrew word transliter- ated as Elohim, Strong’s #430 meaning rulers, judges, god, goddess, the one true god. Our English “God” was transliterated from the Ger- manic “Gott.” It is a generic term and can be used of the God of Heaven and the “little g” gods of other origins. The word translated as “memorial” is from the Hebrew word, zeker, Strong’s 2143, meaning a memorial, remembrance. This word is from zakar, Strong’s 2142, a primitive root. It means to remember, recall, call to mind; to cause to remember, to mention, to record, to make a memorial, to make remembrance. Both “God” and “Lord” then are titles and need to have the name specified in order to determine who is being addressed. It is the same for the word we recognize in English as “holy.” It is from the Hebrew “Kadosh” and means functionally “to be set aside for a spe- cific purpose.” Again, “kadosh” can be used interchangeably with something being set apart for our God’s purposes OR by any other authority. One can be “holy” to whatever specific purpose is being addressed, whether we would consider it good or bad. We know that our Elohim, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is NOT a literalist or legalist, so He will know the intent of our hearts. However, the adversary IS a legalist and will use every opportunity to lie, steal, deceive or destroy. (Revelation 12:9; John 8:44 as two examples). On the Names for the Father, we had to decide if we would follow the Jewish tradition or what we understood Scripture to say. The Scripture references warning of taking His Name in vain are the root of the Jewish traditional use of substitute identifying words or titles (most often: HaShem which means “The Name”). “And you shall not profane My holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord who hallows you.” (Leviti- cus 22: 34). And four additional reinforcements to the command: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7). “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold [him] guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Deuteronomy 5:11). “For they speak against thee wickedly, [and] thine enemies take [Thy name] in vain.” (Psalm 139: 20). “Lest I be full, and deny [thee], and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain].” (Proverbs 30:9). Substitution is deeply engrained to the point that to do otherwise around Jewish people is considered shameful, disrespectful, and maybe even evil! Some would doubt another’s true identity as a Jewish person if they DIDN’T use the substitute terms. Some would say that concern over how we call on Him is becoming legalistic or “over the top.” Yet we do want to honor Him as our eter- nal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent One. We see that there has been a “too casual” approach to our set apart Mighty One and have not wanted to participate in such undue familiarity, remember-
our desire to remain clear and focused on Who it is we worship. One day, our Messiah will come. When He is here, there will be no more doubt or confusion as He will make all such matters clear. Kumi ori, Y'shua! “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now stays faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity.” (I Corinthians 13:9-13). We would further state that when one understands personally and deeply that the transliterated name “Jesus” holds “baggage” from our distorted, veiled, exile traditions, that to personally address Him by a name that a person believes incorrect would be offensive to Him. Therefore, in worship times together, everyone is encouraged to address Him as they know Him to be no matter what someone next to you may do. Please go to the original articles for further details: https://set-apart-ministries.org/how-shall-we-call-him/ ONLINE: Set-Apart-Ministries.org EMAIL: info@set-apart-ministries.org
issues, and have become “single standing stones” without a supportive fellowship of like-minded peo- ple. The English “Jesus” was transliterated from “Ieo- sus” a Greek “god” of healing. We are clear that our Savior is Hebrew and that His Name is Hebrew. We know that the transliteration we have all grown up with, “Jesus,” cannot be correct as there was no “J” sound in Hebrew and no “J” in the English language until the 15th century. Yet, we know and recognize that we first came to know Him in that Name. In His mercy, He has been gracious to us during our exile! “And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nei- ther will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.” (Leviticus 26:44). He has, and still does, answer prayer in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. In our worship praise times, we may choose to use a few songs that use the name “Jesus.” YHWH has used the Church, sometimes associated with Ephraim, to keep knowledge of Yeshua alive! In His time, He is removing the veils from the eyes of both houses of Judah and Ephraim! He has been gra- cious to us in our ignorance and we believe we can do no less. Therefore, we believe that both houses have valuable things to offer as we come together. S.A.M., as an equipping ministry, will encourage study and understanding of Y’shua our HEBREW Saviour, using His Hebrew Name, however, we will not disparage anyone who, as they begin to learn, finds comfort in the familiar transliteration “Jesus” or who prefers Yeshua or Yehoshua rather than Yahshua; HaShem, Yahoweh or Yahweh. (Yeshua is derived from Aramaic while Yehoshua is from He- brew). Our thought is that this is our YHWH’s way of testing the hearts, to see if we will fall into the snare of con- tentiousness or not. Our choice is to remain open, holding things like this “loosely” so as not to become rigid or dogmatic in error. In the case of worship music lyrics, we often see that the Name is extolled without ever actually using His Name. Accordingly, we have encouraged wor- shippers to replace one of the many “replacement” tags — such as Lord, Ha Shem, or God — with YHWH, Yah, Yeshua as it fits into the line some- where within a song that never actually uses His Name. There is not a hard and fast “rule” on this; just
There is a difference between the western/Greek way of thinking and interpreting Scripture and the Hebraic worldview context that our Father chose to usher in our Messiah. The foundation of the Old Testament gives us what we need to correctly understand all that happens in and since the New Testament times. Join in with us for a topical Bible study that identifies the context of the Hebrew worldview and how it is that we have come to believe that the WHOLE Bible remains relevant and necessary for us today. The WHOLE Bible Is Relevant!
Contact us at info@Set-apart-ministries.org to register for this class. To begin September 2025 on Sunday evenings at 6:30 pm CST.
“Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the command- ments of God and their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12 NASB).
Set Apart Ministries • P.O. Box 5584 • De Pere, WI 54115
“Pathfinders Victorious Life and Ministry School” is a Christian Church Ministry. We offer a mobile school of ministry bringing courses to any stu- dents who are interested in ministry training. Currently we are holding classes in Duluth MN starting October 24th for the 2024-2025 school year. If you are interested in a class schedule for the Duluth 2024-2025 school year or if you are in- terested in having our school come to you, please contact us by email at: PathFindersMin@gmail.com Our YouTube Channel: Pathfinders Ministries Hard Core Truth Pathfinders Victorious Life and Ministry School
Jeremiah 6:16
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