December 24, 2017

What Is In A Name? 'Yah vs. Yeh' - Why Jesus Christ Is Yahshua HaMashiach. Annual Re-Post Since 2008.

I was led to this website searching for the origin of Jesus' name. I did this because I know that his Hebrew name, the one that he was given at birth is Yeshua. I wanted to share some facts with you so that you too could have this knowledge. Again, what does it matter when Jesus was born? What matters is that December 25th has become a day for those who believe to come together all around the world in celebration and rememberance. Christmas is derived from 'Christ mass', holiday is derived from 'Holy day'. This is a day that brings everybody JOY. Why would you want to change that?

For those who do not believe (aetheist), what does it hurt you to let them be. Why don't you show respect for their beliefs that you are fighting so vehemently to receive yourself? The unbelievers (aetheist) are doing the same thing, trying to controversally influence others to their point of view. The unbeliever (aetheist) in my opinion is just as much of a hypocrite as the Christian extremist, Muslim extremist and Jewish extremist. You're a hypocrite because you are trying to impose your non-belief onto everyone else. Isn't that precisely what you can't stand about the extreme religious fundamentalist, the imposition of beliefs? If you don't believe, just don't celebrate and leave it be. Why don't you just create a day when all of you un-believers can come together and call it even. It makes no difference to me that you don't believe. That's your right and I respect you for that. In fact, I wouldn't care if you worshipped a rock. All I care is that you treat everybody with kindness and respect. Isn't that how you would want others to treat you?

I'm curious, why are you non-believers not making a big hoopla about Ramadan, Hanukkah or Kwaanza? Why are the words Christmas or God such a threat to you that you find it necessary to abolish them? Hhmmm... Does Jesus scare you that much that you need to erase Him entirely? Why don't you care this much about Buddha, Muhammad or the several gods the Hindu's worship? Hhmmm...

‘Yah vs. Yeh’
Now one last issue to address for those who dogmatically want to argue for Yehshua/Yeshua instead of Yahshua, is in regard to what Yahshua himself said about his name. First, I want to address the argument usually given in defense of Yehshua/Yeshua as the ‘right name.’ Most of the time, the Yehshua/Yeshua camp, argues from the point of the reason that the angel of Yahweh gives for Messiah’s name. In Matthew 1:21 he tells Miriam (‘Mary’) that the reason she is to give the certain name to Messiah is because he will save his people from their sins. In Hebrew (biblical) custom, all names carry meaning and are given with that meaning in purpose (see Gen 32:28-30 for example).

So we know that Messiah’s name will carry the meaning, “He will save.” The Yehshua/Yeshua camp correctly understands this, however, when applying this principle, they take the root word for save, which is Yesha, and they apply this to the Hebrew abbreviated name, Yod-Shin-Waw-Ayin ([wvy), and they incorrectly call the name Yehshua/Yeshua. Now they actually use the correct Hebrew spelling for the abbreviated form of the name - Yod-Shin-Waw-Ayin ([wvy). However, because they fail to understand that the name Yod-Shin-Waw-Ayin ([wvy) is merely an abbreviation of Yahushua (Yod-Hay-Waw-Shin-Ayin - [vwhy ) and not a different name, they conclude that Yehshua/Yeshua is the correct name for Messiah, simply because it does mean “He will save.”

That would seem to be the end of it - case closed, right? Well, basically, yeah it is. The only problem is that the Yehshua/Yeshua crowd neglects to acknowledge that the Yod-Shin-Waw-Ayin ([wvy) is actually the abbreviated form of Yahushua, thereby making the transliterated form Yahshua, not Yehshua/Yeshua. And yet, there is another part of this ‘puzzle’ that clears up any still lingering confusion about whether Messiah’s name is Yahshua or Yehshua/Yeshua. That other part is what Yahshua himself said about his name and who he was. In John 5:43 Yahshua said, “I have come in the name of my Father.” This statement is key in understanding Messiah’s name. Not only does this statement clearly tell us that he came in the authority of his Father, Yahweh, but it gives us a huge clue in knowing his name.

As before, we must keep the understanding of the great meaning that is conveyed in Hebrew names. When we use the proper Hebraic understanding, what we see here is that Yahshua said he came in his Father’s name - literally meaning that he carried the name, or banner, of his Father, Yahweh. This other part of the puzzle lets us know that Messiah’s name carries two meanings - the meaning of “He will save” and the very name (banner) of his Father. If his name was Yehshua/Yeshua, then his name does not convey that he came in his Father’s name as it should, but that he came in his own name. The reason is as follows.

His Father’s name is Yahweh. Yahshua told us that he came in his Father’s name, thus, his Father’s name should either be in Yahshua’s name or Yahshua’s name should in some way convey the Father’s name. The feminine passive participle word, Yehshua/Yeshua does not do that, however, the name Yahshua does. You will notice that the first syllable of Yahweh is Yah. You will also notice that the first syllable of both Yahushua and the abbreviated Yahshua is also Yah.

Yah not only conveys the very name of the Father, Yahweh, but Yah is even used as the abbreviated form of the Father’s name in Psalm 68:4 (see Strong’s # 3050). When Yah, conveying the name of the Father, is combined with Yasha, meaning to save, we have the name Yahushua or Yahshua, which means “Yah will save” or “salvation is of Yah.” Thus Yahshua (or its full form) properly fulfills both, what the angel told Miriam (Mary) about Messiah’s name, and what Messiah himself tells us about his name. Salvation is of Yahweh through the one who comes in His name to save his people from sin - Yahshua.

So what should we conclude from all this? Is this a bunch of unnecessary information that just complicates matters? No, I certainly don't think so. I think it's pretty simple actually. When we’re saying the Messiah’s name, it doesn't matter if you say Yahshua or Yehshua/Yeshua, because essentially the same name is being spoken despite your personal vocal flare on the Yah or Yeh. So does this mean we just went over all that stuff for nothing? Of course not. I believe that when we are specifically trying to teach others the name of the Messiah, that it is important to teach the proper name of Yahshua. It’s simply a matter of teaching correctness, not preference. However, if writing about other topics than the specific teaching of Messiah’s name, if your preference is to use Yehshua or Yeshua, then by all means do so.

Yeshua is easier and faster to type than Yahshua or Yahushua. But I stress the importance of using the correct name, Yahshua, anytime that one is teaching or writing about the name of the Messiah in particular, because it should be taught correctly. But hopefully this slightly more detailed explanation on the Messiah’s name will help to put out those argument fires between the Yahshua folks and the Yehshua/Yeshua folks. And now we can have a closer more meaningful communion together without the tension of the name issue always lurking around the corner amongst Messianic Believers. ~ Shalom.

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