“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

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Yahweh is the Name that is Above Every name, and It’s the Name to Which Every Knee will Bow when He Returns

While I was writing His Name is Yahweh, a small group of us from the United States were in Israel for a security conference. Since we planned to be there for several days, I took a copy of the manuscript with me.

One evening, we were sitting around and talking in a room at the YMCA Three Arches Hotel on King David Street in Jerusalem. I think that hotel is the most iconic building in Jerusalem. I love it.

During our discussion, I told the group about my progress on the book, and I told them that I had a copy of the manuscript with me. It wasn’t a finished product at that point, but it wasn’t a rough draft, either.

One member of our group had been a preacher. He was seminary trained, and he had many years of experience as a preacher developing his style of delivery.

His name is Scott, and he loved to quote Scripture. Part of Scott’s style was his signature pronunciation of the name “Jesus”. Lots of preachers do it. They elongate the name “Jesus” by accentuating the “e”. Phonetically, this is what it looks like: Jeeeeesus.

Scott had a signature pronunciation for “Bible”, too. He accentuated the “i” and elevated his voice enough so that people listening to him would know that he was giving them the unvarnished truth. Phonetically, this is what Scott’s pronunciation of Bible looks like: Biiiible.

While I was explaining that the Messiah is Yahweh and that we have salvation in the Name “Yahweh”, Scott interrupted me and said, “Neil, the Biiiible says, ‘At the name of Jeeeeesus every knew will bow.’”

I won’t go into detail explaining why Scott had frustrated all of us by the time we got to Jerusalem. Let it suffice to say that none of us were happy with him by that time. When Scott interrupted me to quote Scripture, that was the last straw. I think his signature pronunciations of Bible and Jesus did it. Scott was attempting to demonstrate his authority over me and his mastery of the Scriptures by correcting me on the major point of my book.

His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition proves that the Messiah is Yahweh. It contains solid evidence from the Scriptures demonstrating that point beyond a shadow of a doubt. Anyone reading the book with an open mind should see it without any difficulty. Scott had not read the manuscript, and he did not get the point.

As I said, all of us were frustrated with Scott, particularly me. I responded to him sharply. I said, “Scott, that is not what the Bible says!”

You should have seen the look on Scott’s face. It was obvious that he was shocked. He saw himself as the authority since he was seminary trained. In his eyes, I was a just business professor from the University of Virginia. It was as though I had challenged his manhood. I had done nothing of the sort. I simply told him that he was wrong in no uncertain terms.

I said, “Scott, you were quoting Philippians 2:9-11. This is what those verses say”:

“Elohim highly exalted Him [the Messiah], and bestowed on Him [the Messiah] the Name which is above every name [Yahweh], so that at the name of Yeshua [Yahweh] every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Yahweh, to the glory of Elohim the Father.” (Philippians 2: 9-11)

Before I go any further, you need to know that I stopped using the title “God” for Yahweh a long time ago. God is the literal name of a pagan deity. Sometimes it’s pronounced Gad, Gawd, and Gaud. I can’t explain how God came to be used throughout Christendom as the generic title for our Creator, but I can tell you without any doubt or hesitation that Yahweh doesn’t like it. The correct word is “Elohim”. It means “Strong One”.

God, Gad, Gawd, and Gaud are names used for the god of good fortune. Yahweh does not appreciate being called by the name of a pagan deity, especially since it alludes to luck. The things Yahweh does and says have nothing to do with luck. See His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition for details. I revised the book to remove any reference to Yahweh as “God”.

Philippians 2: 9-11

Philippians 2: 9-11 begins by telling us that Elohim highly exalted the Messiah and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name. That is critically important, because Yahweh is the Name which is above every Name. Elohim, the Father, bestowed the Name “Yahweh” on His Son, the Messiah. Scott skipped that part completely.

Next, Philippians 2:9-11 explains why Yahweh the Father bestowed the Name “Yahweh” on His Son. He did it so that at the Messiah’s Name, Yahweh, every knee will bow. Not just every knee on Earth, but every knee in heaven and hell, too. Every being everywhere will bow to Yahweh and declare/confess that He is Yahweh “to the glory of Elohim the Father.”

That’s the point Paul was making. Scott missed Paul’s point completely. He was fixated on the name “Jesus”. Most preachers are. Problem is His name was never Jesus. His Name has been Yahweh since before creation. Before Earth existed, His Name was Yahweh, and it will be Yahweh for eternity.

Scott had no response. He looked dumbfounded.

Everyone in the room except Scott got the point. In fact, another member of our group, Gary, raised his voice and said, “I got it.”

I could tell by the looks in their eyes that the light had come on. I think Scott was bothered by the fact that I had destroyed his interpretation of a key passage in Philippians that he had used over the years many times as a preacher to convey the message that Jeeeeesus is the Name that’s above every name. That simply is not true.

The Messiah wasn’t given the name “Jesus” at birth. He was given the name “Yeshua”, and Yeshua was one of the three most common names for boys in Israel when He was born. The other two most common names for boys when the Messiah was born are Ya’acov (Jacob or James) and Yohanan (John or Jonathan). They were everywhere. Those names then were like Bill, Bob, and Mike today.

Yahweh is not a common Name. It belongs to One Person who has manifested Himself three ways: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because of very bad translations of the Scriptures, that message it lost on most believers today. His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition was written to help solve that problem.

As a group, preachers have accepted seriously flawed translations of Yahweh’s word and used those translations in their ministries. As a result, Yahweh’s people have not been told the truth about the Messiah. He isn’t just our Savior. He is Yahweh. He could not have become our Savior if He wasn’t Yahweh, because Yahweh demanded a perfect sacrifice. Only Yahweh is perfect.

I hope I have made my point effectively here. Regrettably, this point is lost on almost every preacher I have talked with. Most of the ones I have talked with can’t or won’t let the name “Jesus” go. They hang onto the name “Jesus” the same way a baby refuses to let go of a security blanket.

There is no security in the name “Jesus”, but there is security in the Name “Yahweh”:

“The Name of Yahweh is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)

Please explore this website: His Name is Yahweh. You will be glad you did, and read His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition. It’s an eye-opener.

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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18