Yahweh - LORD

The name Yahweh occurs more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament.  It appears in every book but Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.  As the sacred, personal name of Israel's God, it was eventually spoken aloud only by priests worshiping in the Jerusalem temple.  After the destruction of the temple the name was not pronounced.  Adonai was substituted for Yahweh whenever it appeared in the biblical text.  Because of this, the correct pronunciation of this name was eventually lost.  English edition of the Bible usually translate Adonai as "Lord" and Yahweh as "LORD."  Yahweh is the name that is most closely linked to God's redeeming acts in the history of His chosen people.  We know God because of what He has done.  When you pray to Yahweh, remember that He is the same God who draws near to save you from the tyranny of sin just as He saved His people from tyrannical slavery in Egypt.

A name is a tag by which a person is known; yet, it was much more than a label in ancient times. Then, a person's name told you something important about the person's identity, character, or life. For example, Moses means "to draw out (of water),"  Abraham means "father of a multitude, " and Hannah means "grace."  For generations the power of a name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry, and religious ceremony.  Everyone recognizes himself or herself by name.  The question is:  What does that name mean and how does it influence a person's character?

When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses asked Him to reveal His name.  Moses knew that it was important for the people to know who had sent him.  In Exodus 3:13-14 we read, Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel...and they ask me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM" and he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

In Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, 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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation."

For years, various rabbinical writers, afraid of profaning this covenant name of God, spoke of "The Name, " "The Great and Terrible Name," "The Unutterable Name," "The Ineffable Name," "The Holy Name," and "The Distinguished Name."  It is also known as the tetragrammaton, because it is formed by the four Hebrew consonants YHWH, it was first translated as Jehovah in the Middle Ages and enshrined as such in the King James Version of the Bible.  This mispronunciation was the result of tenth century Jewish scholars supplying vowels to Hebrew words, which had formerly been written without them.  Since Adonai was always substituted for Yahweh in the biblical text, the Hebrew vowels for Adonai were inserted into the four letters of tetragrammaton: YaHoWaH.

When Moses first approached the burning bush, God spoke to him and said "Do not come any closer, take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground...At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."

In the song "I Can Only Imagine", Mercy Me talks about what it might be like to be in the presence of God.  Like Moses at the bush, I wonder, "Will I stand in [HIS] presence, or to my knees will I fall?"  When I find myself in the presence of Yahweh, "Will I sing hallelujah?  Will I be able to speak at all?"  "Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?"

As a young child, I remember the sense of awe, the reverence that one felt simply walking into a sanctuary.  During summers at my great-grandmother's, I would walk to the local church, which was never locked, and play the piano.  Even then, there was an awareness of being in the presence of God. Please know that I understand that the building, is just a building, and that it is the people that make up the church.  I also know that God is omnipresent and that I don't have to be at church to experience His presence.  That said, I can't help but feel that we've lost something.

For Moses, it was the desert, it was a bush, but there was no doubt that he was in God's presence. With churches meeting in non-traditional settings, schools, day-cares, theaters, etc.; with sanctuaries being replaced with multipurpose rooms, that sense of "entering into God's presence" has been diminished, if not lost altogether.

I pray for a renewed sense of Yahweh - The Great I Am -

What does the name Yahweh reveal about the nature and character of God?
God is self-existent: He was not created.
God is self-sufficient: He does not depend on anyone or anything.
God is self-directed: He is free to do as He pleases.
God is eternal: He has lived and will live forever.
God is consistent: He is who He is.  He is true and unchanging.