Jesus Name

Created by pastorbuddy on 3/25/2009

Acts 4:12 states that there is no other name given whereby we must be saved. Some versions today of the New Testament give the name ‘Jesus’ as being the name of Salvation, while others state it is Yashua. Old Testament scriptures say YHWH is the Savior and none other. Since Revelation 14:1; 9:4 and 7:3 all reveal that believers will have the FATHER’S NAME in their forehead, the former versions contradict each other. If there is only one name given, the scriptures must agree so as to discern the truth. These names must be tested and researched to prove or disprove their authenticity. YHWH has already been scrutinized (see ‘Halleluyah’ publication) and found to stand, so what are the origins of the other names we’ve mistakenly been given by translators.

We know from early manuscripts of the New Testament that the name ‘Jesus’ was not the chosen name of the MESSIAH. This is backed up by Old Testament scriptures and discrepancies in Greek New Testament writings. Never once in all the books before theMessiah came was there a ‘Jesus’ prophesied to come in the flesh. On the contrary, they state that the covenant GOD whom the Hebrews worshipped (mentioned over 6,800 times) would become flesh and dwell among them ( Jn. 1:14; Phil. 2:6-8). THE MESSAIAH said, “I am come in MY FATHER’S NAME and ye receive ME not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” John 5:43. What is behind this name people have received instead of the true name?

The research begins by looking up the name ‘Jesus’. All concordances and dictionaries list it to be a Greek version of Joshua, pronounced originally as Yahoshuwa, then refers the reader to Jeshu (3442). Hebrew sometimes is transliterated into English in different ways.The Holmans Dictionary lists Joshua, Jeush and Jeshu as All being translated into ‘Jesus’, which accounts for having the name ‘Jesus’ forJoshua in Hebrews 4:8 and Acts 7:45, KJV. To understand why all the names relate to Jeshu, it’s important now to look at how scroll writing practices were influenced around the time of the MESSIAH.

Many early copies of the New Testament abbreviate sacred words. Abbreviations of these words were formed by writing the first and last letters and placing a line over them. Using our English to illustrate, GOD would appear as GD and Lord would appear as LD. The attempt to differentiate and dignify THE SACRED NAME OF GOD goes back to pre-messianic times, first done by Jews.

From the Dead Sea Scrolls we know that Jewish scribes often distinguished the name YHWH, (YHWH is known as the tetragrammaton and is recognized in every place where ‘LORD’ or ‘GOD’ has been substituted). Frequently, the scribes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls would write the Tetragrammaton in old Paleo-Hebrew script, although the scroll was otherwise written in square Aramaic script. An example is the Habakkuk commentary found in cave one, which uses the tetragrammaton only in Biblical quotations. Whenever reference is made to GOD in the commentary portion, the generic word ‘El’ (GOD) is used. This is true in other Qumran (Dead Sea Scroll) documentsas well.

The Qumran covenanters had other crafty devices for circumventing the use of GOD’S NAME. Sometimes they would write four or five dots in place of the Tetragrammaton. In their Community Rule for example, the writer quotes Isaiah 40:3 as follows: “Prepare in the wilderness the way of . . . .”. We know from the Mesoretic text that the four dots stand for the Tetragrammaton, YHWH. This same passage is quoted again in a document discovered in Qumran cave four (4 Q Tanhumim) with four dots representing the divine name. At times, dots were placed above the Tetragrammaton when it had been written by mistake, apparently as a means of canceling the word without actually erasing it or giving it the appearance of being a different word altogether.

The people in the Qumran community were Jews, belonging to the Essene group, one of four major Jewish religious movements described by the first century A.D. Historian, Josephus. They lived apart from other Jews in a strictly disciplined group and copied and composed the writings mostly around the time of THE MESSIAH. You have to wonder what influenced this small community of Jewish people to disguise YHWH’S NAME in this way. If they lived secluded, who were they hiding the name from? Perhaps a look at the Sanhedrin law will shed light on this question and the beginning of the plot to cover up THE MESSIAH’S NAME.

The Sanhedrin Council was the highest Jewish council in the first century. It had authority over the Jews and was made up of Pharisees and Sadducees, two of the major religious sects. The word Sanhedrin is usually brought into the English translation as ‘council’, and is presided over by the high priest. At times, the words ‘chief priests’ refer to the action of the Sanhedrin, though the name of the council itself is not used. Keep in mind, this is the same council who accused THE SAVIOUR of blasphemy. This accusation stemmed from a Sanhedrin law; Mishna Sanhedrin VII, 5. It reads: ‘The blasphemer only incurs guilt if he utters the secret name of GOD..when this sentence is pronounced.. the judges arise and rend their garments and never again sew up the torn parts’. In order for them to accuse THE MESSIAH, HE had to proclaim to be YHWH (THIER GOD) and to speak the name (their rendition of misuse or blasphemy). InMark 14:63, the high priest rent his clothing according to this law. Stephen was stoned for mention of YHWH being THE MESSIAHand the council persecuted Peter and John demanding they not continue in this name. Perhaps fear of the great number of followers such a short time after Pentacost persuaded the religious leaders to refrain from sentencing them. The noted miracle performed at the gate of the temple was influential in this decision as well ( Acts 4). Remember, some of the elders believed, but would not confess ( John 12:42).

Another Sanhedrin law, and yet the most significant, is that of a later origin than the last mention. A law was established concerning the blotting out of YHWH’s NAME. With more miracles and conversions attributed to the doctrine of the apostles, the angry and jealous rulers of the council put into effect their law which read ‘..may his name and memory be blotted out.’ This coincides with Galatians 3:13, “..cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Part of being cursed involved the loss of their land and belongings. Sometimes their whole family was destroyed so their name would be wiped off the earth (blotted out). It was unlawful to speak the name of the cursed person so that even the memory of the person was quickly blotted out.

Since the Semitic languages have the ability to convey abundant meaning through very few words, only three words are needed to write the entire law (curse) mentioned above. The Hebrew reads right to left and appears:

In English, it reads Yimmach Shmo W’zikro.

It was common place then (illustrated by the Qumran scrolls and many texts), as it is today, to use abbreviations (or an acrostic) for a sentence or phrase. An acrostic is a series of lines, usually the first in each line, to form a name or message. Examples of acrostics are ‘24-7’, being 24 hours, 7 days a week or NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The acrostic for the curse would be:

Y   SH   W. Hebrew had no vowels, so they are
implied when pronouncing the word.  The outcome is YeSHuW (remember Jeshu).

Though the true believers were not afraid to use the name of YHWH when speaking of THE MESSIAH, the rest of Israelappeared to use the acrostic Yashuw, in keeping with the law. By not refering to the man claiming to be YHWH, they helped to blot HIS NAME out. The scribes, as was required by law, changed THE NAME in secular and sacred writings so that no account in history remained. This would imply that the man YHWH, MESSIAH,

became a curse and was referred to as Yashuw. Several references confirm that the name Jeshu (Yeshu) is used in Jewish literature only of persons who were despised for one reason or another. They are referred to simply as ‘cursed’! It is an acrostic that everyone at the time understood. This law would explaine the intertwined uses of the name Joshua and Jesus in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 (KJV, NIV). The Strongs Concordance and Holman’s Dictionary both give reference to this as being one of the origins of the name ‘Jesus’.

Moving from the Hebrew culture to Greek, look at the structure of the language. Greek is a more highly inflected (look this word up) language than English. The stems, or roots of words are modified (altered) by addition of prefixes, by the changing of the ending of words and by the insertion of a letter or letters in the midst of words. Once the Jews came under Greek influence, there is noted this tendency to replace or translate Jewish names to similar sounding Greek names, thus giving the Jewish names more characteristics of the Greek culture. The formation of  (IESOUS) pronounced Yesus, for  (YSHW) is centuries older than the Christian period. IESO (without the popular Greekending ‘us’ added to most masculine names) is the male form of IASO, the goddess of ‘salvation’! Sound familiar? IESO is pronounced Yesu (like Yeshu) except without the ‘h’ since the Greek language has no ‘h’ sound in its alphabet. The ‘I’ is equivalent to the Hebrew letter called Yod, both sharing the ‘y’ sound as in yell. Early Christianity simply adopts the current Greek form of the Hebrew names quite naturally, after the manner of small Hellenizing groups. This practice is found twice in the records of Apollonopolis Magna and twice in the LXX translations where other manuscripts use Hebrew.

In fact, many Hebrew names were changed by adding the ‘us’ ending as a sign of adopting the Greek culture. Even the famous Jewish historian originally known as Joseph became Flavious Josephus after accepting Roman citizenship. The KJ Edition translation in 1611 listed the pagan god IESO with the common ‘us’ ending as THE SAVIOUR’S NAME. It did not even have the name ‘Jesus’ in it!

The letter ‘J’, according to Marriam Webster did not exist until after the mid 1600’s. It is derived from the Greek ‘I’ and the Hebrew‘Y’. The tail added to the ‘I’ was done first for decoration purposes at the beginning of sentences but still not pronounced as the ‘J’ is now. Later, after the invention of the printing press, the letter ‘J’ gradually aquired its own sound through French influence. The name ‘Jesus’, instead of IESUS, arrived on the scene in more recently printed, revised editions of the KJ Bible.

Other events influenced the formation of this pagan name as well. The IES (from IESO), a name or title for the Roman god Bakkhos (Baccus), ‘the living one’, is translated to IHS in Latin. The Greek, unlike the English alphabet uses the symbol ‘H’ to represent the long vowel ‘E’ sound, as in me, turning IES into IHS. The three letters IHS were used as initials for IESOUS, later written ‘JESUS’.

In Latin manuscripts of the fourth centuries, the letters IHS were retained for the Messianic name. Medieval Latin texts, 700-1500 AD, have commonly inc or ihs for Iesus, Iesu or Jesus. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, these abbreviations were in later times often erroneously expanded as Ihesus. Most religious and secular encyclopedias and dictionaries state that Baccus was, in Roman mythology, the son of Jupiter. To the Greeks, he was known as Dionysus, the god of fertility, the son of Zeus. His worshippers tore apart a live animal, ate his flesh and drank his blood. Participants believed they were taking part in Dionysus’ (a.k.a. Baccus’) blood and body. He was said to havehealed the sick, done miracles, turned water left at his temple into wine and walked on water to rescue his believers. Being the winterborn child, he was concealed from evil powers seeking his life. At the winter equinox, Christmas, his devotees carried a babe in procession like the Roman Catholics at Bethlehem do today. He died, visited Hades and rose again. It is not remarkable then that his Greek symbols IHS or IES came to be applied to the Messiah.

The IHS, a monogram for the name ‘Jesus’, often occurs in religious art and in stained glass windows. It serves as a symbol for the signConstantine supposedly saw before he attacked the Roman army over the throne of Caesar. Constantine is said to have adopted the cross as his insignia after seeing a cross and the legend ‘In Hoc Signo Vinces’ (IHS), meaning ‘in this sign conquer’ in the sky. The initials IHS are traditionally rendered Iesus Hominum Salvator, translated to mean Iesus, salvation of men.

The Babylonian religion also knows Baccus but under the name Tammuz ( Ezek. 8:14). Tammuz and his mother Cimmaramus were worshipped as a mother holding her infant child. He was conceived, supposedly by a visitation from Cimmaramus’ dead husband, making his a spiritual, miraculous birth. In Rome, Tammuz was referred to as Jupiter, the same god Barnabas was thought to be in Acts 14:12, because of the miracle Paul performed in Lystra. This son, Tammuz worshipped in his mother’s arms was looked upon as invested with all the attributes and called by almost all the names of the promised Messiah. As YHWH in the Old Testament was called Adonai, so Tammuz was called Adon or Adonis. Under the Mithras, he was worshipped as the ‘Mediator’. As Mediator and head of the covenant of grace, he was styled Baal-Berith, ‘Lord of the Covenent’. In this character, he is represented in Persian monuments as seated on the rainbow, the well-known symbol of the covenant. In India, under the name Vishnu, the preserver or savior of men. Though a god, he was worshipped as the great ‘victim man’, who before the worlds were, because there was nothing else to offer, offered himself as a sacrafice.

If further proof is necessary, there are a few significant finds. One such notation is a Hebrew and Latin Jonah Version (1668) of theGospel According to Luke. This book, in the Hebrew section, reveals the Tetragrammaton in its original place instead of the pagan name ‘Jesus’ in chapter 2, verse 21. The Tetragrammaton also appears in its rightful place instead of ‘LORD’ multiple times. In recent years scholars have claimed that Matthews gospel account was at first written in Hebrew. It is contended that Matthew and the early Christiansproduced this account to become the last book of the canon, of the Hebrew scriprures, as the Greek scriptures had not been completed. There is evidence that various recensions of the Hebrew and Aramaic versions of Matthew’s account persisted for centuries among early Jewish Christian communities of Palastine and Syria. Early writers such as Papias, Justin Martyr, Tatian, Pantaenun, Clement of Alexandria, Pamphilus, Jerome and many others give evidence that they possessed or had access to Hebrew and Aramaic writings of Matthew. Jeromeof the fourth century said he personally saw the volume and copied it (which was allowed by the Nazarenes in the Syrian city of Beroea) and that the manuscript was preserved in the library at Caesarea which the martyr Pamphilis diligently collected. He goes on to state that it contained the divine name after the manner of the Hebrew, not the LXX.

Furthermore, in the Jonah version mentioned earlier, the Latin section gives the word ‘Domini’ in the place YHWH originally was and later read ‘LORD’. It is more than interesting to note that ‘Domini’ is from ‘Domino’ meaning ‘to mask’ or ‘to cover up’. The term used as AD (Anno Domini) would read, ‘year of the mask’ instead of ‘year of our Lord’. The phrase seen earlier, ‘Iesu Hominum Salvator’ (IHS) produces a notable find as well. The root word, or prefix, ‘Homo’ from Greek origins means ‘same’ or ‘like’, thus the phrase reads ‘Jesus is like (or the same as) the savior of men’.

These are not just coincidences. Lucifer, who was made in all wisdom, has wanted to be the same as YHWH, wanting the praise of men from the beginning. He has worked very hard through every culture to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect ( Matt. 24:24, Rev.13:14). It would appear he has done an excellent job, but YHWH said, “MY sheep hear MY voice, and I know them, and they followME,” John 10:27.

Can it be denied? This name, Jesus, is tied into paganism in so many realms it is hard to give any credibility to the possibility of its being authentic! Knowing there is only one name given, and that name is YHWH, you have a decision to make. You can only walk in the light when it has been revealed to you. Great light has come unto you, will you prefer light rather than darkness? The word tells us to “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” ( 2 Timithy 2:15). The information is available. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” ( Matthew 7:7).

The American Heritage Dictionary, 1978; The Apocalypse; Babylonian Talmud; Biblical Archaeology Review, Washington D.C; The Book of Our Heritage; Bullingers Concordance to Greek and English New Testament; Catholic Encyclopedia; The Dictionary of Bible and Religions; Encyclopedia Americana; Encyclopedia of Religions; Grolliers Encyclopedia, 1999; The Holman Bible Dictionary; The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament; Journal of Biblical Literature; The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, 1969; King James Bible, 1611 & 1614; Latin-Hebrew Gospel of Luke, Jonah version, 1668; Marriam Webster; Mediaeval Tol’doth Jesu; The Memorial Name; The New Testament In English, Wycliffe, 1384 and The Two Babylons.

YHWH/KIRK, JERRY
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