Part Eighteen

Turn Back to the Pure Worship of Yahveh

In Exodus 3, Moses, the deliverer of Israel, is timid yet obedient in his call to go to Pharaoh to deliver the Jews from bondage. Before going to Pharaoh, Moses asks, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘WHAT IS HIS NAME?’ What shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM;” … ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” And God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘YAHVEH, 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 My memorial-name to all generations.” (Exodus 3:13-15) Did He intend for His Name to be forgotten? The Scripture says: “let GOD be found true, though every man be found a liar …” (Romans 3:4). Yahveh is the same yesterday and today and forever. His true and holy name, consisting of the Hebrew letters Yod Hey Vav Hey, appears approximately 7,000 times in the Old Testament. He is jealous of His memorial-name; Yahveh is grieved that His name was dissolved in a sea of generic titles shared with pagan gods. He gave an enticing promise to those who would faithfully reverence His name: “where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you [personally], and bless you” (Exodus 20:24).

The Almighty, through Moses, gave Israel the pattern for the building of a holy dwelling place for His name and divine presence. Yahveh, “WHOSE NAME IS JEALOUS” (Exodus 34:14), would tolerate no rivals. He was very adamant that His name was to be remembered, revered, and honored; it was to be the only name spoken on the lips of His redeemed nation and royal priesthood. The consequences for neglecting this mandate would bring severe curses upon His chosen people. Yahveh said He would share His glory with no other. He commanded that the land be purified and stripped clean of all pagan gods, worship sites, and heathen customs before the dwelling for His glorious presence could be constructed. He warned His people: “Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.” (Exodus 23:13)

You shall seek Yahveh at the place which Yahveh your God shall choose … To establish His name there for His dwelling …”

- Deuteronomy 12:5 -

Yahveh would not tolerate the intermingling of His holy presence and His divine name with the common, profane, and unholy. He told His people: “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess … You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, … you shall obliterate their name from that place. You shall not act like this [in their pagan-rooted religious traditions] toward Yahveh your God. But you shall seek Yahveh at the place which Yahveh your God shall choose … To establish His name there for His dwelling …” (Deuteronomy 12:1-5) The Almighty’s dramatic manifestation upon Mount Sinai was the prelude to His Shekinah (divine presence) filling an earthly tabernacle. His glory, which illumined Mount Sinai, was now to dwell on earth in the midst of His redeemed nation. He declared to Moses and Israel that He would have a dwelling place for His name and glory. Israel reverentially worshiped Yahveh and brought honor to His holy name and commandments for only a short time. Soon after Joshua’s death, their hearts became compromised and evil. It is written, “And the people served Yahveh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahveh which He had done for Israel. … and there arose another generation after them who did not know Yahveh, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel forsook Yahveh [forgetting His name] and served Baal …” Yahveh’s name was to be remembered forever. Israel turned to substitute gods, forsaking Yahveh’s name for the title “Lord” robbing Him of the praise, honor, and glory due His intimate, holy name.

- Exodus 3:15, Judges 2:7,10-13 -

Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Almighty, and served the Baals (which means many of the false gods of the Gentile nations that Israel gravitated towards and intermingled with their pure worship of Yahveh), … they provoked Yahveh to anger. So they forsook Yahveh [forgetting His name] and served Baal …” (Judges 2:7, 10-13) 6:09 His name was to be remembered forever. (Exodus 3:15) Israel turned to substitute gods, forsaking Yahveh and His name for the title “Lord.” 1 & 2 This was most grievous and abominable in His sight, for it robbed Him of the praise, honor, and glory due His intimate, holy name. The prophet Isaiah exhorts, “There is No one who calls on Thy name, Who arouses himself to take hold of Thee …” (Isaiah 64:7) Yahveh’s grief over the forgetting of His name is spoken through Jeremiah to the false prophets and apostate shepherds. “[The prophets] intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?” (Jeremiah 23:27) The substituted title of “Lord” caused His people then and to this day to forget His original glorious and awesome name. “To forget the Lord’s name is tantamount to forgetting Him.”3 The apostasy of forgetting Yahveh’s name through the worship of Baal was precisely why the prophet Elijah was sent to Israel. Israel had rebelled and intermingled with the surrounding Gentile nations. Consequentially, the pure worship of the Almighty was compromised and tainted. Israel mixed the holy worship of Yahveh with the profane worship of the pagan god Baal (see 1Kings 18). Elijah was sent to turn the people back to the pure worship of Yahveh and reverence for His holy name. The name Elijah in Hebrew is EliYAH, which means “my God is YAH.”4 John the Baptist (Yohanan the Immerser) came in the spirit and power of Eliyah (Elijah) to once again turn Israel back to YAH. (Luke 1:17 and Matthew 11:14) After John’s death, Messiah proclaimed: “… ‘Elijah [Eliyah] is coming and will restore all things; …’” (Matthew 17:11). Malachi wrote: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of Yahveh (the LORD).” (Malachi 4:5)

We are approaching the day when Yahveh will return and pour out His righteous judgments on those who have veered from His plumb line of truth. In His mercy, He again sends the spirit of Eliyah, who is calling, “… ‘Make ready the way of Yahveh, make His paths straight. … and the crooked [including man’s religious systems] shall become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:4-6) The Eliyah (Elijah) spirit is beckoning a holy remnant to wholeheartedly embrace Yahveh and stop wavering between religion and righteousness. Eliyah says: “… ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahveh is God, follow Him;’ …” (1Kings 18:21)

Over the centuries, multitudes of believers have been the recipients of many doctrines and traditions of men. We simply did not know this hidden vital truth, as it has been buried under the religious doctrines with which we have been involved. However, there is hope! “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, Yahveh is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent.” (Acts 17:30)

FOOTNOTES

1 “At first the name Baal (The Lord) was used by the Jews for their God without discrimination, but as the struggle for the two religions developed, the name Baal was given up in Judaism as thing of shame …” The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967), p. 87

2 Footnote for Hosea 2:13. “days of the Baals. The whole period of the worship of Baal (the chief Canaanite deity) by Israel. Baal means “lord” or “owner” and was often used as a general term for god. Israel’s worship of Baal developed in three stages: (1) placing the Canaanite gods in a secondary place to the Lord (Yahweh; see note on Gen 2:4); (2) considering Yahweh as a super-Baal; (3) Canaanizing or Baalizing Yahweh worship so that the people completely forsook Yahweh.” Ryrie Study Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), p. 1377.

3 Note on Jer 23:27. The NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation, 1985), p. 1162.

4 It was common practice among the Jews to use the root “YAH” in names. For example, biblical names ending in “iah” in English were transliterated from “yah” in Hebrew. Many Hebrew prophets had names bearing the name of Yahveh:

Nehemiah NehemYAH “YAHveh has comforted”

Isaiah YeshaYAHu “Salvation is of YAHveh”

Jeremiah YirmeYAHu “YAHveh establishes”

Ezekiel YAHezkel “YAHveh God strengthens”

Daniel DaniYAHel “YAHveh God judges”

Joel YAHel “YAHveh is God”

Obadiah ObadYAH “Worshiper or servant of YAHveh”

Micah MichaYAHu “Who is like YAHveh?”

Zephaniah TsephanYAH “YAHveh has hidden”

Zechariah ZekarYAH “YAHveh remembers”

Malachi MalakYAH “Messenger of YAHveh”