The Significant Name of God (6)
Salvation in calling on the Name
André H. Roosma
11 May 2020 (NL original: 28 Nov. 2014)
In his speech to the Jews, proselytes and others on Pentecost, as recorded
in Acts 2, Peter said:
“... And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon
the Name of the Lord will be saved. ... ”
Acts 2:21; cf. Romans 10:13
It is generally assumed indiscriminately among Christians that
‘the Name of the Lord’ here is Jesus (or the Hebrew variant Yeshu‘a or Yahu-shu‘a). To verify
that, it is good to take a closer look at this text.
Here, Peter quoted the prophet Jo’el. Jo’el was one of the
later prophets from the First Testament. And his name says a lot. It resembled
the name of Elijah - actually: ’Eli-YaHU = my God is YaHU. Only in
reverse order: YaHU- (abbreviated to Jo) -’El
= YaHU is God! Like Elijah, Jo’el had a calling to make it clear that
Isra’el was only to recognize and honor YaHUaH as God.1
In one of his prophecies, he was allowed to proclaim about a future time:
“... And it shall be that whosoever shall call on
the Name of YaHUaH shall be saved;
for on Mount Tsion and in Yerushalaim there shall be deliverance, just as
YaHUaH said; and among the remnant, whom YaHUaH shall call.
... ” Jo’el 2:32
... But what is this ...? Here we see not at all the word Lord (or LORD, or Jesus,
or the Hebrew variant Yeshu‘a or Yahu-shu‘a)..., but
that glorious Name of the God of Isra’el: YaHUaH!
However, in the Greek translation there was literally the same
thing in both cases:2
ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ ΠΑΣ ΟΣ ΑΝ ΕΠΙΚΑΛΕΣΗΤΑΙ ΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ
ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΣΩΘΗΣΕΤΑΙ
“... And it will be that whosoever calls on the
Name of the Kurios shall be saved ...”
The Greek ΚΥΡΙΟΣ - Kurios can best be
translated into English as ‘Supreme Master’. This title was used
in the Septuagint translation for both the glorious Name of God and the
Hebrew title ’Adonai - My Lord. From the text in Jo’el it
is very clear that here, Kurios stands for the glorious Name of God:
יהוה - YaHUaH. There is no salvation,
no redemption in invoking any arbitrary ‘My Lord’, or any
‘Supreme Master’, but only in invoking YaHUaH, the God
of Isra’el and The Creator of heaven and earth!
Indeed, in their Hebrew reconstructions of Peter’s words, both
Delitzsch and Salkinson-Ginsburg have יהוה -
YaHUaH here in Acts 2:21.
In the eyes of Pharisaic Judaism (which forbade and
still forbids the utterance of God’s glorious Name; elsewhere I already
explained why) Peter committed blasphemy here! So this statement was
one of the main reasons for his imprisonment by the Judaic leaders.
We now also see the importance of the fact that Jesus (Yahu-shulsquo;a)
had made God’s glorious Name YaHUaH – Which had become
unknown through the Pharisaic prohibition – known again to His
followers, as we read in John 17:6, a quote from Psalm 22:23. And we see
why the glorious Name of God is addressed in the ‘Our Father’
prayer that Jesus taught His followers to pray. It is important that we
know the value and meaning of the glorious Name of God!
Who is our Savior, our Redeemer? Through Yesha‘-Yahu, God makes it perfectly clear:
“... For I am YaHUaH, your God, the
Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior; ...
I, I am YaHUaH, and there is no Savior except Me. ... ”
Yesha‘-Yahu 43:3a,11;
compare 45:17,21; 49:26; 60:16;
2 Shemu’el 22: 4; Yirme-Yahu 30:10-11; 42:11; and Hoshe‘a 1:7
Is it so strange, then, that many fill in the Name Jesus or Yahu-shu‘a
in the text from Acts 2? No, because didn’t Yahu-shu‘a say that the
Father and He are One ?! (John 10:30) In the full
Name of Jesus: Yahu-shu‘a we actually confess that YaHUaH saves.
When the disciples later performed miracles in the Name of Jesus, they
actually did that in the Name of Yahu-shu‘a - that is, in the
Name of YaHUaH Who saves. We too have been given that wonderful Name.
So much reason to praise Him!
Hallelu YaH !
Notes
| 1 |
The names in the Bible have meaning. That is why I
transliterate them carefully so that they remain recognizable. Especially
the glorious Name of God I represent here as accurately as possible from the
oldest Hebrew original, instead of replacing this grand personal Name of The
Most High by a common word, such as ‘Lord’. For more background
information see:
André H. Roosma, ‘Life, security and belonging in joyful adoration,
from the hand of God’  , brief Hallelu-YaH article about the Biblical Name of God in the earliest
Hebrew (old Semitic) script, January 2011.
André H. Roosma, ‘The Shema‘
– the First Testament declaration of faith (1)’, Hallelu-YaH! web article, February 2012.
André
H. Roosma, ‘The
wonderful and lovely Name of the God Who was there, Who is there, and Who
will be there’ , extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009. |
| 2 |
In the earliest editions of the Greek Septuagint
translation, the glorious Name of God was left in Paleo-Hebrew characters.
However, this was misread by many Greeks. Unfortunately, because of the
Jewish prohibition on pronouncing God’s glorious Name, later editions
did not opt for a phonetic transliteration, but for replacing the glorious
Name by Kurios. More details on this in the last reference in the
previous note. |
This article also unambiguously indicates that the
glorious Name of God in the First Testament is no more holy than His Name
in His Appearance as Savior. So is there any reason not to mention
the One while we do mention the Other?? I don’t think so!
|
