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Can you help me I need to find out about the name of God >>Adonai and how we can we apply it for today. -EddieGod's name is Yahweh. Rabbinic Jews did not say his name in order to avoid the possibility of profaning it. When they came to his name in scripture, they would say, "Adonai," (Lord, or Master) rather than "Yahweh."
English translations do something similar to this. In the Old Testament, the word, "Lord" often appears as "LORD" with all capital letters and the "ORD" scaled down to a smaller font. That is how most English translations will render, "Yahweh." With that little bit of background, let's proceed.
There has been a lot of scholarly debate over the exact meaning of the name, Yahweh. Most agree that it is an archaic form of the word, "to be," and could mean "he who is," or "he who causes to be." In Exodus 6:2-8, God said he had previously revealed himself as "God Almighty." However, he is now revealing himself as "Yahweh." God reminds them he, Yahweh, is keeping a covenant by delivering them from slavery and making them his people. So he is indeed the God who "causes to be," by causing salvation from Egypt.
As far as applying it, think about this. People usually reveal their name only when they are initiating some sort of relationship. That is what God did when he revealed his name to Israel. So God's people are often called his "bride (Isa 62:5)," or his "son (Hos 11:1)."
Like a son or bride, we wear his name. We need to remember who and whose we are so we do not profane his name. We need to honor his name through our actions and speech.
John Telgren
P.O. Box 452
Leavenworth, KS 66048
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