Jesus or Yeshua?
-
Yeshua the Messiah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeshua is the original Hebrew proper name for Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish Rabbi (and more) who lived from about 6 B.C.E. to 27 C.E. (A.D.) In other words, Yeshua was the name His mother called Him when shall called Him for supper.
Jesus is a mis-transliteration of the Greek mis-transliteration, Yeysu. (Some say the name Jesus probably developed from the name of the pagan god Zeus, but there is little or no evidence for this.) It is true that Emporer Constatine mistook Jesus for the Greek god Apollo, but that is another story.
It is the most proper to call Him Yeshua, since only in the Hebrew does His name have any meaning. In Hebrew Yeshua means both "Salvation," and the concatenated form of Yahoshua, the "L-RD who is Salvation." The name Jesus has no intrinsic meaning in English, except as it is known as His name in English. (Therefore, we cannot deny the name Jesus, since this name commonly identifies the Messiah to English speaking people.)
Many people of the world believe Yeshua to be the promised Lamb of G-d, who was chosen to be sacrificed for all mankind's sin. The Bible declares that mankind must have a blood sacrifice to substitute punishment for their sins by placing them on the sacrifice, figuratively speaking. The sacrifice has to be blameless, else the punishment could not be substituted, since the thing sacrificed would be dying for its own sins. Clean and spotless animals were once sacrificed as a temporal measure until a fully qualified sacrifice could be supplied at the proper time. Followers of Yeshua believe He was that perfect sacrifice. He is a man, who could be properly substituted for mankind, yet G-d in the flesh, for only G-d is sinless. Only G-d Himself is a pure enough sacrifice to satisfy His holy justice, for all men have sinned.
Yeshua came speaking the Torah Word of G-d with absolute authority. He made no mistake in regards to all G-d's commands. Only G-d Himself could act this way. For this reason people accept Yeshua as G-d in the flesh. Not that G-d is consigned or limited to flesh, but that He can manifest Himself in whatever form He pleases to fulfill His task. Yeshua of Nazareth was and is the form of flesh that G-d was manifest in. In this form, Yeshua is the Son of G-d and the Son of Man.
Because Yeshua presented Himself with this absolute authority it is only logical to conclude He either is G-d or He is the world's greatest pretender, thus a liar and definitely a lunatic.
If Yeshua is G-d then He is the greatest Jew who ever lived, and an honor to the Jewish people. If He is not G-d then He is the worst Jew who ever lived and a disgrace to Jewishness.
Messianic Jews believe Yeshua to be the Messiah of Israel and G-d in the flesh, who will come again to deliver Israel from their persecutors. Amen.
Copyright 1996. David M. Hargis. All rights reserved. -
Yeshua or Jesus?
The Mis-Transliteration of a Greek Mis-Transliteration.
Yeshua is the original Aramaic proper name for Jesus the Nazarene, who lived from about 6 B.C.E. to 27 C.E. (A.D.) The word "Jesus" is actually a mis-transliteration of a Greek mis-transliteration. The Emperor Constatine even mistook Jesus for Apollo, the son of the Greek god Zeus. In Hebrew Yeshua means Salvation while the name Jesus has no intrinsic meaning in English whatsoever.
Yeshua Ben Yosef
It is most proper to call Him Yeshua. It was indeed his proper name, given to him by his parents, and only in Hebrew does this name have any meaning. In Hebrew Yeshua means both "Salvation," and the concatenated form of Yahoshua, is "Lord who is Salvation." The name Jesus has no intrinsic meaning in English whatsoever.
There are many Yeshuas that we read about in Biblical text and many are confused with the Yeshua who would later become the "Christ". The name Yeshua appears 29 times in the Tanach. Yehoshua (Joshua) of Nun is called Yeshua in Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 8:17. Yeshua is the name of the Cohain HaGadol (the high priest) in the time of Zerubavel in Ezra 3:2. It is the name of a Levite under King Hizkiyah (Hezekiah) in 2 Chronicles 31:15. There is even a city called Yeshua in the negev of Yehudah in Nechemyah11:26. Yeshua is also a shortened version of the word Yehoshua much like Bill is for William.
There are 7 other Yeshuas (Jesuses) in the Brit Chadashah. There is Elymas bar Yeshua in Acts 13:6. There is an ancestor of Yeshua HaMashiach: the son of Eliezar, the father of Er in Luke 3:29. In Rav Shaul's letter to the Colossians in chapter 4, verse 11, there is a Justus called Yeshua a fellow worker of Shaul. Josephus, the famous Jewish historian mentions 20 different Yeshuas (Jesuses), 10 of which are contemporary with Yeshua HaMashiach. All together, at least 50 Yeshuas from his time plus about 9 in the Tanach have been revealed from Biblical text and other literary sources.
Mis-Translating the Mis-Translation
Yeshua is a Hebrew name which has been transliterated into Greek as Iesous (IhsouV: pronounced "ee-ay-SUS"). The English "Jesus" comes from the Latin transliteration of the Greek name into the Latin Iesus. Now Greek has no "y" sound, but the Latin "i" is both an "i" and a "j" (i.e., it can have a consonantal force in front of other vowels), the latter of which is properly pronounced like the English "y" (which explains the German Jesu, "YAY-su")That is why we spell Jesus as we do, taking it straight from Latin, but we pronounce the name with a soft "j" sound because that is what we do in English with the consonantal "j".
The first letter in the name Yeshua ("Jesus") is the yod. Yod represents the "Y" sound in Hebrew. Many names in the Bible that begin with yod are mispronounced by English speakers because the yod in these names was transliterated in English Bibles with the letter "J" rather than "Y". This came about because in early English the letter "J" was pronounced the way we pronounce "Y" today. All proper names in the Old Testament were transliterated into English according to their Hebrew pronunciation via the Latin, but when English pronunciation shifted to what we know today, these transliterations were not altered. Thus, such Hebrew place names as ye-ru-sha-LA-yim, ye-ri-HO, and yar-DEN have become known to us as Jerusalem, Jericho, and Jordan; and Hebrew personal names such as yo-NA, yi-SHAI, and ye-SHU-a have become known to us as Jonah, Jesse, and Jesus. To further complicate matters, there was no letter "J" in the old English alphabet and the letter "I" was often used in its place. Often in early texts of the time, Jesus or Jerusalem would be spelled Iesus or Ierusalem.
The second sound in Yeshua's name is called tse-RE, and is pronounced almost like the letter "e" in the word "net". Just as the "Y" sound of the first letter is mispronounced in today's English, so too the first vowel sound in "Jesus". Before the Hebrew name "Yeshua" was transliterated into English, it was first transliterated into Greek. There was no difficulty in transliterating the tse-RE sound since the ancient Greek language had an equivalent letter which represented this sound. And there was no real difficulty in transcribing this same first vowel into English. The translators of the earliest versions of the English Bible transliterated the tse-RE in Yeshua with an "e". Unfortunately, later English speakers guessed wrongly that this "e" should be pronounced as in "me," and thus the first syllable of the English version of Yeshua came to be pronounced "Jee" instead of "Yeh". It is this pronunciation which produced such euphemistic profanities as "Gee" and "Geez".
Since Yeshua is spelled "Jeshua" and not "Jesus" in most English versions of the Old Testament (for example in Ezra 2:2 and 2 Chronicles 31:15), one easily gets the impression that the name is never mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. Yet 'Yeshua' appears there twenty-nine times, and is the name of at least five different persons and one village in the southern part of Yehudah ("Judah").
In contrast to the early biblical period, there were relatively few different names in use among the Jewish population of the Land of Israel at the time of the Second Temple. The name Yeshua was one of the most common male names in that period, tied with Eleazer for fifth place behind Simon, Joseph, Judah, and John. Nearly one out of ten persons known from the period was named Yeshua.
The first sound of the second syllable of Yeshua is the "sh" sound. It is represented by the Hebrew letter shin. However Greek, like many other languages, has no "sh" sound. Instead, the closest approximation, the Greek sigma, was used when transcribing "Yeshua" as "Iesus". Translators of English versions of the New Testament transliterated the Greek transcription of a Hebrew name, instead of returning to the original Hebrew. This was doubly unfortunate, first because the "sh" sound exists in English, and second because in English the "s" sound can shift to the "z" sound, which is what happened in the case of the pronunciation of "Jesus".
The fourth sound one hears in the name Yeshua is the "u" sound, as in the word "true". Like the first three sounds, this also has come to be mispronounced but in this case it is not the fault of the translators. They transcribed this sound accurately, but English is not a phonetic language and "u" can be pronounced in more than one way. At some point the "u" in "Jesus" came to be pronounced as in "cut," and so we say "Jee-zuhs."
The "a" sound, as in the word "father," is the fifth sound in Jesus' name. It is followed by a guttural produced by contracting the lower throat muscles and retracting the tongue root- an unfamiliar task for English speakers. In an exception to the rule, the vowel sound "a" associated with the last letter "ayin" (the guttural) is pronounced before it, not after. While there is no equivalent in English or any other Indo-European language, it is somewhat similar to the last sound in the name of the composer, "Bach." In this position it is almost inaudible to the western ear. Some Israelis pronounce this last sound and some don't, depending on what part of the dispersion their families returned from. The Hebrew Language Academy, guardian of the purity of the language, has ruled that it should be sounded, and Israeli radio and television announcers are required to pronounce it correctly. There was no letter to represent them, and so these fifth and sixth sounds were dropped from the Greek transcription of "Yeshua," -the transcription from which the English "Jesus" is derived.
So where did the final "s" of "Jesus" come from? Masculine names in Greek ordinarily end with a consonant, usually with an "s" sound, and less frequently with an "n" or "r" sound. In the case of "Iesus," the Greeks added a sigma, the "s" sound, to close the word. The same is true for the names Nicodemus, Judas, Lazarus, and others.
English speakers make one final change from the original pronunciation of Jesus' name. English places the accent on "Je," rather than on "sus." For this reason, the "u" has been shortened in its English pronunciation to "uh."
In Jesus' Name
Today's tradition of pronouncing His completely hellenized name as "Jesus" has indeed obscured His true name, "Yeshua," and has shifted its perceived meaning much like most of His original teachings.
As with all things Essene however, there is always the exoteric and the esoteric philosophies and functions. That is, those ideas and teachings suitable to be imparted to the public, and those designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone.
Even His name, it would seem, became a part of this understanding. The name Jesus or Jesus Christ is often used in everything from idle conversation, to bumper stickers and jewelry, to enforcing false teachings, to justifying wars and political agendas, and is even used as a profanity. The name Yeshua however, has remained pure and holy, known and used only by those who would uphold His name and teachings in the highest regard and thus reserving His holy name for use only in spiritual matters and the most humbled and sincere of prayer and obeisances.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Note: In an effort to keep the integrity of the manuscripts within The Nazarene Way site and its archives intact, and for the purposes of study, correspondence and for future theological reference, the name Jesus does appear in many of our texts, files and manuscripts. To the devout student, the proper name Yeshua is always implied.
It is our intention to reproduce all texts as they were originally written or, as they were originally translated. We feel it is important that no text is ever arbitrarily or intentionally changed, altered, added to, replaced or corrected, to include spelling, punctuation or grammatical error. The word Jesus is also used on our main menu and index pages for general public recognition and for common browser and search engine purposes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. ~Matt 7.6
http://www.thenazareneway.com/index.htm -
whilst there is opinion out there which may suggest otherwise, IMHO, Yeshua as the name for the messiah seems to be the way to go. No, do not read into this and say that I condemn using the name Jesus... this is just an alternative POV.
-
Not exactly on the topic... but a balancing view to be considered??
"This Is My Name Forever"
YHWH
The name or title by which one refers to Deity has been a subject of interest to mankind from time immemorial. Who is the Creator of the universe, and what is his name? While various titles, including God, Lord, the Great King, the Almighty, and the like have been applied to the Creator, he must certainly have a personal name, a name which expresses his nature and being as names applied to individuals did in Hebrew culture.
This was the question that Moses put to the Eternal God when he was commissioned to liberate Israel from PharaohÂ’s bondage: "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" (Exodus 3:13). When the time came for the exodus, God equipped Moses with an infallible witness for his authority to organize such a momentous event when he revealed to him the meaning of his secret name, the name by which he was to be known forever. Listen to GodÂ’s answer to MosesÂ’ question in Exodus 3:14, 15: "And Elohim [God] said unto Moses, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I AM WHO I AM] . . . and Elohim said again to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."
The Name and Its Pronunciation
The name Yahweh has been called the tetragrammaton because it is composed of four Hebrew letters, hwhy. YHWH in English cannot be pronounced because it has no vowels. On this technicality of the usage of vowels and their placement within the tetragrammaton, there is much controversy; however, the consensus of scholarship concludes that the most likely pronunciation is Y䨴-wꨮ
Since the tetragrammaton appears so frequently in the Hebrew texts, it is important that we maintain the sound of that name as we bring it into English. This process is referred to as transliteration, which literally means to "represent, as a word, by the alphabetic characters of another language having the same sound." Transliteration enables us to bring the letters of one language across into another so that the word, when pronounced, sounds the same in both languages. While words may be translated from one language to another, names can only be transliterated. If oneÂ’s name were Smith in English, it would still be pronounced Smith in Russian. Although the characters of the alphabet would be different, the sounds of the Russian letters would approximate the sounds of the English letters, S-m-i-t-h.
We cannot circumvent the fact that the Bible is a Hebrew book. It is essential, therefore, that we transliterate (not translate) Hebrew names from that book. Most scripture versions maintain this principle; however, when they come to the name of Deity, they break the rule and substitute a title for it. Hence we have Lord for Yahweh. If the principle had been consistent, we could just as logically have George for Moses. Consistency must be maintained; therefore, we must transliterate the name of names, YHWH.
Meaning of the Name
The Hebrew name Yahweh can be compared with the Hebrew word for being, hayah, to gain the full significance of its meaning. Hayah means "I am." Yahweh means, "I am because I am, I am that I am, or I cause myself to be." It is a formation of the causative (hiphil) conjugation of the verb and is intended to reveal the cause of existence. Yahweh’s choice of this name to express his being then, was highly accurate, for he alone possesses the quality of aseity–he is the cause of his own existence.It is also an accurate expression of the fact that God alone is the cause of all existence. "Without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). The name Yahweh has also been translated, "I will be what I will be," which is a statement of God’s immutability, a characteristic which he alone possesses. This name can also be translated, "I will be there," a statement of his eternal presence.
Excessive Caution
GodÂ’s statement in Exodus 3 regarding his name, Yahweh, has a very noteworthy ring of finality: "This is my name for ever." The prophet Hosea reconfirms MosesÂ’ account of GodÂ’s name: "Even Yahweh is Elohim of hosts; Yahweh is his memorial [name]" (Hosea 12:5). Isaiah corroborates this: "I am Yahweh; that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another" (Isaiah 42:7). Jeremiah adds his confirmation: "They shall know that my name is Yahweh" (Jeremiah 16:21). Amos says, "Yahweh is his name" (Amos 5:
. Zechariah declares: "In that day there shall be one Yahweh, and his name one" (Zechariah 14:9). Considering the explicitness of this evidence, why would anyone wish to discontinue the use of the name of the Supreme Deity?
Because of their fervor to avoid misuse of the name Yahweh and their fear of violating the third commandment ("Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."), over time, the Jewish people became very reluctant to use the name at all. By the time of Christ, it was used only once a year by the high priest on the day of atonement and then only in such hushed tones that it was virtually lost in the chanting of the priests. Fearing an unwitting violation of this commandment, Jewish scholars substitute the word Adonai (Lord) instead of the name Yahweh in their reading of the Scriptures. In the later Masoretic text, the vowel pointing for the word adonai was used with the consonants of the name YHWH to underscore the fact that adonai should be read instead of Yahweh. The Talmud says, "It is written yothe hay [Yahweh] but it is pronounced aleph daleth [Adonai]." Because their lack of understanding of this this rabbinic vowel pointing of YHWH, later translators offered the word Jehovah as the name of God (which is totally in error).
When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek of the Septuagint, this emphasis was maintained so that Yahweh was "translated" Kurios, which means Lord. Subsequent translations of Holy Scripture have respected this same Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the name YHWH and offering instead a substitute rendering. It is primarily for this reason that we have the present-day representation–we cannot say rendering–in the Authorized Version, which is "Lord" in most cases. A seemingly legitimate reason for not transliterating the name YHWH, therefore, has caused the pnonunciation and understanding of God’s personal name to be lost to the vast majority of the Christian community.
The Son of God and His Name
When the Son of Yahweh was brought into the world in the role of Savior, he maintained the name of divinity by which he had previously revealed himself to Moses and other patriarchs of Israel in his pre-incarnation Christophanies. The name which the angel Gabriel instructed Joseph and Mary to call him was Yeshua, which simply means Yah in the role of Saviour. Jesus was the Memra (Logos in Greek), the Word of God who existed with the Father from eternity past and shared the name Yahweh. It was only fitting, then, that when he became man, he should maintain that name together with the expression of his role. Some have even suggested that the name Yah was more emphatic in the SaviourÂ’s name. The Emphatic Diaglott says, "For Isoua among the Hebrews is salvation, and among them the son of Nun is called Joshua; and Iasoue is the salvation of Jah."
The English word by which we refer to the Son of God is Jesus, which is a transliteration of the Latin Iesus, which comes from the Greek form Iesous, which in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Yeshua. Some have supposed that the word Jesus is a translation of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. It is totally inconceivable that the scholars who translated the Hebrew into the Greek for the Septuagint Version would have used the name of a pagan deity in reference to their national hero, Joshua, who was called Yeshua in the Hebrew but was called Iesous in the Greek. This is the reason why Joshua is called Jesus in Acts 7:45 and in Hebrews 4:8 of the Authorized Version. We are certainly at liberty to use Jesus as the name of our Saviour in addition to his Hebrew name, Yeshua.
The name Yahweh was understood by the early Christian scholars. Clement of Alexandria (212 C.E.) gave Iaove (pronounced 뭤-oo-꠬ or Yahweh) as GodÂ’s name. Origen (253 C.E.) gives Iae as GodÂ’s name, a transliteration of Yah, the abbreviated form of Yahweh. Epiphanius (404 C.E.) and Theodoret (457 C.E.) give Iabe.
A Balanced Approach to Using the Name
One might well question the importance of learning the proper name of Deity. After all, in the most popular versions of the Holy Scriptures, this name does not appear. The Authorized Version gives his name as I AM THAT I AM and occasionally refers to him as Jah or Jehovah. Most often it names him as "the Lord." When one reads the Hebrew Scriptures, however, the continued and repetitive use of Yahweh in reference to Deity is unmistakable. This personal name Yahweh appears approximately 5,500 times in the Hebrew Bible. If the Heavenly Father was careful enough to give Israel his proper name, it would seem that we who honor and worship him should want to learn that name for ourselves.
On the other hand, it is certainly not so utterly distasteful for believers to refer to Yahweh by the various titles which rightly apply to his Being that he would cut them off for worshipping false gods, as some have mistakenly suggested. Using such titles and names to refer to Deity could not be construed as violation of the third commandment, for one would have to take or use the name Yahweh in vain, not use another name or title in sincere reference to the Eternal. Indeed, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father," not, "Our Yahweh." While the names of Deity are important, it should be remembered that all names are merely words designed to reveal the qualities of the bearer. Though Yahweh and Yeshua are the proper names of deity, it is appropriate to say, "The Eternal," or "The Savior."
Too often GodÂ’s people lack balance. This has been the case with the name Yahweh. The Jews were so afraid of violating the third commandment by pronouncing the name that they avoided its use and nearly lost its pronunciation altogether. Some Christians have rediscovered and restored the use of the name and have taken the other extreme, believing that failure to use the name exclusively is a violation of the third commandment. We must remember that God speaks English, Chinese, and Spanish, as well as Hebrew and that we can use terms and names that communicate with one another and with the public our understanding of God.
We must use wisdom in conversing the unbelievers in the language with which they are familiar. By isolating ourselves totally to the use of biblical Hebrew surnames of God, we severely restrict the effectiveness of our witness. While understanding the name of God is important for informationÂ’s sake, understanding the authority and meaning of the name is more essential to the believer today.
Restoration
Biblical names in Hebrew forms, transliterated into the worldÂ’s languages, are a part of the restoration of ChristianityÂ’s Jewish foundations. Believers should gain this knowledge and enrich their relationship with God by understanding his nature revealed in his name and by communicating with him and about him, using his proper name, Yahweh.
The need for restoring the knowledge of GodÂ’s name by the believers today is readily recognizable in the fact that those who are called his elect are referred to in Revelation 14:1 as "having his FatherÂ’s name written in their foreheads." Surely those who will be called by his name would want to know his name. Moses did!
The name, Yahweh, is but another part of the great heritage of Judaism that is being restored in our day. It is a part of the better way of recognition and worship of the Eternal.
http://www.restorationfoundation.org/ -
Originally posted by breytonhartge:this is just an alternative POV.
of course.... you are the only person allowed to present an alternative POV! Other people doing this same thing as you are will be accused of throwing cheap shots...... -
Buddha.Originally posted by breytonhartge:Jesus or Yeshua? -
Yeshuah ha MeshiachOriginally posted by breytonhartge:Yeshua the Messiah -
try again.Originally posted by Cenarious:Buddha. -
Satan.Originally posted by NT2:try again. -
who is emotional now??? hey I already apologised...face it CE, you are just as emotional as I am... you jump just as fast... yet you deny... funny.Originally posted by Chin Eng: of course.... you are the only person allowed to present an alternative POV! Other people doing this same thing as you are will be accused of throwing cheap shots...... -
Does it matter? Jesus or Yeshua?
Really.... -
MC you have to ask yourself that question, only you can answer that... to me , IMHO, it matters a lot... i call on the name of Yahweh and Yeshua because it distinctly identifies who I am worshipping and following, God and Christ could mean anyone from Zeus to apollo and anyother god for that matter. It is a specific thing, like I said, in my opinion, our Yahweh is a very particular God. Christians today I feel triviliase Yahweh to the point that there is no more fear of the Lord... just my opinion, you are of course free to choose what you believe in...Originally posted by M©+square:Does it matter? Jesus or Yeshua?
Really.... -
I'm in no position to believe in anything. Since i don't belong anywhere.Originally posted by breytonhartge:MC you have to ask yourself that question, only you can answer that... to me , IMHO, it matters a lot... i call on the name of Yahweh and Yeshua because it distinctly identifies who I am worshipping and following, God and Christ could mean anyone from Zeus to apollo and anyother god for that matter. It is a specific thing, like I said, in my opinion, our Yahweh is a very particular God. Christians today I feel triviliase Yahweh to the point that there is no more fear of the Lord... just my opinion, you are of course free to choose what you believe in...
Cheers -
So this is what CHC teaches their followers...Originally posted by Ito_^:Satan. -
hey sgmac how are you?Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:So this is what CHC teaches their followers...
does your nick have anything to do with the anime series? -
check the date stamp lah... I wrote this BEFORE you apologised. Sheesh!Originally posted by breytonhartge:who is emotional now??? hey I already apologised...face it CE, you are just as emotional as I am... you jump just as fast... yet you deny... funny.
In my PC clock, I wrote this one at 6.44 pm. Your apology was 8.49 pm. Sheesh! -
Originally posted by Chin Eng:
no need to get so worked up lah... sorry already said... again if it is my bad, then I apologise...
check the date stamp lah... I wrote this [b]BEFORE you apologised. Sheesh!
In my PC clock, I wrote this one at 6.44 pm. Your apology was 8.49 pm. Sheesh![/b]
-
maybe now you know what I am so worked up about the date stamp!Originally posted by breytonhartge:no need to get so worked up lah... sorry already said... again if it is my bad, then I apologise... -
you cool down yet? drink some ice tea lah... singapore so hot you still want to be heated up somemore? kekeke.Originally posted by Chin Eng:maybe now you know what I am so worked up about the date stamp!
-
-
what don't you get missqi? or ice tea too weak for you? kekekeOriginally posted by missqi: -
hmm im fine...Originally posted by breytonhartge:hey sgmac how are you?
does your nick have anything to do with the anime series?
yeah, i have dreams that we are actually living on SDF Macross. -
really? since like for how long.... ? I am going to move this... to the appropriate thread, hope you don't mind...Originally posted by SingaporeMacross:hmm im fine...
yeah, i have dreams that we are actually living on SDF Macross.
see here
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=202581&page=1 -
What's In a Name?
WHEN THE NAME IS THAT OF THE SON OF GOD,
THE ANSWER IS: "VERY MUCH!"
by Clifford Denton, D. Phil.
When the Gospel went out to the Greek speaking world our Saviour was called Jesus. This is a modification of Yeshua, the Hebraic form of his name. A growing number of believers are using the name Yeshua again. This is linked to the growth of a movement to restore the Hebraic foundations of the Christian faith. The name is rich in meaning, being associated with the Hebrew word for salvation. Indeed, if we look closely at the Hebrew letters which make up the name, we will discover even greater significance.
The name Yeshua is made up of four consonents, Reading from right to left these are yud, shin, vav, ayin. It is interesting to compare the letters which form the word with the letters, known as the tetragrammaton, which make up the name of Yahweh, God the Father. These are yud, hay, vav, hay. If we put the letters for the SonÂ’s name under the letters for the FatherÂ’s name, we can compare them more easily:
Both names have yud and vav. There are meanings attached to Hebrew letters. To some extent they are like hieroglyphics, conveying meaning through pictures. One Jewish tradition is that the vav symbolises the power that binds together the souls of Israel. We will return to this point later. The hay is symbolic of a window. It looks as though the SonÂ’s name is derived from the FatherÂ’s name by changing the two symbols of the window for the shin and ayin . Perhaps something happened when the windows of heaven opened to reveal the Son. Obviously we can stretch these ideas too far, but there would seem to be something important to consider if we go a little further.
First, we can consider the yud and the vav which are in both the names of the Father and the Son. The letter yud is the symbol for hand–the Hebrew word for hand, yad, comes from this. The letter vav is the symbol for a nail or a hook and the word vav itself is the Hebrew for the kind of nail that is used to pin something down while it is being stretched. Now we can see the power of the message behind the letters. The hands (yud) of Yeshua (Jesus) were pierced by nails (vav) as his body was stretched on the cross. This was the means by which those saved from Israel may be bound together with the Father, fulfilling the Jewish tradition in a remarkable way. It cannot be by chance that the names of the Father and the Son both contain the symbols of the suffering that took place for the salvation of Israel.
Now we should look at the other two letters that make up the name of Yeshua. These also have clear meaning. The shin is the symbol of teeth, and the word shin also means tooth in Hebrew. The ayin is the symbol of eyes, and the word ayin also means eyes in Hebrew. This is a mystery until we read the messianic promise given by Jacob to Judah in Genesis 49:8-12 where there is reference to the eyes and teeth of the Messiah. Among the things that were said, we have, "His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk." But what else does the symbolism of eyes and teeth mean? If we put the ayin with the shin, we form the word which is associated with the word delight. But what of this delight? Like the psalmist, surely Yeshua delighted in the Torah (law) of God. Indeed, this is so when we recall that eyes and teeth are symbolic of the righteousness of the justice of God, eye for eye and tooth for tooth (Exodus 21:24).
The name Yeshua contains justice and perffect balance. While ayin and shin symbolise jus-tice of the law of God, yud and vav symbolise the extent of GodÂ’s mercy. There is a way of restoration for those who have broken the laws of God whatever they have done, and this principle is all bound up into the name of Yeshua, which means salvation. Those who believe in him can be saved from their sins, whatever they have done. It is important to remember this when we consider the next point, which is deeply relevant to millions of people today.
Continued... -
What's in a Name part2
We should go back to the passage from Exodus 21 from which the principle eye for eye and tooth for tooth comes. This principle of justice is associated with harm that is done to an unborn child. If someone damages the eye or tooth of an unborn child, they will have the equivalent penalty. God cares for the poor and oppressed and expresses this by applying the principles of his righteousness to the most defenceless of our society, our unborn children. Indeed, not only is the penalty for damaging an unborn child eye for eye and tooth for tooth, it is also life for life. What then of abortion? Surely we must infer eye for eye, tooth for tooth and death for death. Those who have taken the life of an unborn child have the curse of death hanging over them. Indeed, the blood of murder calls for justice in the whole of our nation. We thank God that the name of Yeshua contains mercy (the symbols of his death–the nail-pierced hands) which shows that our death penalty can be taken by him. The time has come for repentance in our nation from those who have, in their ignorance, broken the laws of God even in such extreme ways as taking the lives of unborn children.
We praise God that He has made provision through his Son for all our needs when we turn to him for forgiveness, and we rejoice that he has sealed up these truths before the beginning of time when he designed the Hebrew language in a way that could demonstrate the great truths of perfectly balanced justice and mercy in the very letters of the name Yeshua. "And you shall call his name Yeshua because he shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21).
There is even more to see. For example, we can consider how the prophecy over Judah (Genesis 49:8-12) pointed to the perfect righteousness of the coming Messiah: His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk. Yet even in the symbols of the eyes and teeth pointing to the outworking of "eye for eye and tooth for tooth," we can also consider a wonderful picture of mercy triumphing over justice. If the repentant sinner were to look into the face of the Messiah, he or she would see not a frown of judgement, but a smile of friendship, love and mercy. The love of God shines out from YeshuaÂ’s smile and loving eyes. Indeed, those teeth and eyes are as much a sign of love as judgement when the repentant sinner turns to the Messiah for forgiveness.
There is yet another important insight. We recall that the Hebraic form of the name Jesus is Yeshua, which is made up of four Hebrew letters. Many Jews rejected Yeshua as Messiah and for centuries they have sought to profane his name. In shortening the name to Yeshu, as many religious Jews do, they declare "May his name be profaned." Let us consider how this act accompanies justice according to the principle of "an eye for an eye." The Hebrew for Yeshu is the same as the Hebrew for Yeshua except that the letter ayin has been removed from the end. If we recall that the letter ayin means "eyes" then we can understand the link with what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16: "To this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."
There is no other name except Yeshua through whom anyone can be saved. His name is "Salvation." Those who profane his name have brought judgement on themselves, leaving a partial blindness to this day. With the removal of the letter that symbolises eyes from the name of Yeshua (Jesus) a partial blindness came to those who read the Torah but fail to see that it points to him. We look forward to the day when repentance will sweep through Israel, when the ayin will be recovered into the name of Yeshua, resulting in the opening of eyes of understanding of who he really is. Then he will be worshipped instead of profaned, as those who have rejected him will see love in his beautiful smiling face rather than the judgement that they brought upon themselves. We have this promise within the prophecy of Paul contained in Romans 11, when the whole company of GodÂ’s people will be gathered into the one Israel of God in the last days.
What is in a name? When that name is that of the Son of God, the answer is, very much. Even those who have committed the sin of abortion can be restored to fellowship with God through faith in him. He took their sins upon himself when his nail-pierced hands pinned him to the cross. In him, as shown even in his name, was mercy and justice in perfect balance, but through him, mercy triumphs over judgement for all who repent of their sins through faith in him.
Dr. Clifford Denton is director of Prophetic Word Ministries and editor of Prophesy Today, an important journal in the United Kingdom. He is also director of Cambrian Christian College, which specializes in studies from a Torah foundation. His teaching ministry helps Christians understand the Hebraic heritage of their Christian faith.