Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
***
(Today’s Reading)
YHWH in the Intertestamental Period
(Essay Installment 4)
Afterword
As I commented on the “Finding Jesus in the Old Testament” angle after the conclusion of the “YHWH in the Old Testament” installments, I’m going to do the same here for the “YHWH in the Intertestamental Period” installments.
Like any God-fearing man, I fully support “reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name.” However, no God-fearing man can support suppression of the divine name from public consciousness. For one thing, why did Moses ask for the name if no one was supposed to speak it? For another, why did the prophets who wrote the Old Testament use it in their speech and in their writings – and use it far more than they used any other name? And lastly, how can “Build a fence around the Torah” be a commendable strategy?
My understanding of “Build a fence around the Torah” is that it equates to “Let’s invent a human commandment that will make it impossible for us to break a divine commandment.” This is absurd. Do we think we’re smarter than God? Can we write better commandments than He does? It’s what Paul would call self-made religion.
Colossians 2:23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
Inventing a commandment that will keep us from disobeying God’s commandment is not only a flawed concept; it also can be shown to break down in this specific case. Here is the divine commandment in question:
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
There’s no basis in the text for narrowing its focus to words said out loud. The commandment’s natural meaning would include the way that Israel and its citizens lived – not just vocalizing the name. For example, Israel should not accept its role as YHWH’s nation but then live in such a way that would bring dishonor to His name. A name is not just an identifier, it’s a reputation. To think that not pronouncing the Lord’s name fulfills the commandment’s purpose is ludicrous. I could say much more about the weakness of the “Build a fence” strategy, but I won’t belabor the obvious. Censoring the name of YHWH was neither necessary nor helpful.
You might now ask, “If suppressing the use of YHWH was not good, why didn’t Jesus correct it?” The answer is that God is known for using even the foolishness of men to achieve His purposes (Acts 2:23-24). By substituting “Lord” for “YHWH,” Jews were substituting a title for a personal name. This, in effect, made the title into a personal name. That “Lord” would now be able to function both as a title and as a personal name made it perfectly suited for Jesus and His mission. This will become clearer when we get to “YHWH in the New Testament,” but I should give some explanation here and now.
The New Testament authors quoted Old Testament descriptions of YHWH that clearly applied to Jesus. For example, notice how the apostle John references what the prophet Zechariah quoted as an utterance of YHWH’s when describing Jesus’ crucifixion.
John 19:37 And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
If you read it in context, you’ll see that Zechariah is quoting YHWH as saying, “they will look on Me whom they have pierced.” (That’s why “Me” is capitalized by the translators.) There are many such New Testament quotations or allusions to Old Testament YHWH texts finding their fulfillment or meaning in Jesus. Likewise, there would have been many such references in the preaching of the apostles. When Greek-speaking Jews heard “Kurios” associated with Jesus, they would have thought “YHWH.” But when Greek-speaking Gentiles heard “Kurios” associated with Jesus, they would have thought “chief authority figure). Thus both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) heard a word that had ready and relevant meaning to them, but the precise meaning each heard was different. By contrast, if YHWH had been transliterated or even translated in the Septuagint or in preaching, it’s likely the Greeks would’ve been sidetracked by a word whose meaning was unknown to them.
In the manner described, God has brought forth good even from our evil (Gen 50:20; Neh 13:1-2; Rom 8:28). That said, over the centuries since, Gentiles have lost sight of that linguistic connection between YHWH and KURIOS and LORD. Therefore, they have lost the connection that would tell them that Jesus was YHWH. And Jews are certainly not going to remind Gentiles of this connection.
Summing up, the suppression of the name YHWH allowed a title (Lord) to serve as a proper name. This was a benefit to 1st-century folks, but a handicap to 21st-century folks. Nevertheless, we can overcome the handicap. We just have to study the words in their original languages and contexts…as we are doing. And our doing this is what makes the study of YHWH a way of “finding Jesus in the Old Testament” (FJOT).
***
A Bible Reader's Website 