The Letter J and a True Conversion

I remember sitting in Mr. Hornbach’s classroom when I first started learning about YHUH’s Son’s name. I was in eighth grade, and Mr. Hornbach was one of my favorite teachers. He was my English teacher and my Spanish teacher. He, like me, was interested in history, culture, words, and languages. I think I learned more facts about history, culture, and etymology in his class than Grammar and Spanish. We were learning the Spanish alphabet at the beginning of the year one day, and he made a statement I will never forget. He was telling us how the English letter, “j” was not in existence until about 400 years ago, and how in Spanish, it’s pronounced more like an “h”. For an example, he used the name, “Jesus”. He said that Jesus could not be the correct name for the man Christians believed in. He said that in old Bibles, the name, Jesus, was written with an I instead of a J, and that the I or J was pronounced like a Y. He then pointed out that in Spanish, this name was pronounced, hey-sus, which jumped out at me to sound like, hey-zeus. I was learning about the name, Zeus, in English/Lit. class, in Greek mythology, and I was disturbed by this name issue, but I didn’t dig any further into it for many years.

I was seeking truth about religion and faith. I was reading the Bible, reading the Quran, whatever I could get my hands on to sort out who or what I was supposed to believe in. I went to church with my Mormon friend and her family, my Catholic friends, and my Baptist friends, trying to figure out which was truth. For the most part, I’d say I was drawn to the Bible, though not raised up in church, and not raised by a believer. I had a Jehovah’s Witness children’s bible that was given to us when they came to visit, so I was introduced to that name early on. I knew there was a creator when I observed the creation around me, and I never believed in evolution, I always believed the creation account, the Exodus story, and I recognized the voice of the Shepherd in the New Testament. I hated witchcraft in its most obvious forms, and hated all evil, as I understood it at the time.

At the age of 18, the summer I graduated High School, I accepted the One I called Jesus as my Savior and Messiah. I hadn’t simply inherited the faith of my parents or grandparents. The source of my faith wasn’t that I had been drilled with scriptures and never questioned what I was told. I was not raised by believers in the Bible, nor was I raised in church. My conversion to being a believer in the Bible, YHUH, and His Son, came about for many reasons. The first being, I grew up fatherless. I was rejected. I wanted a father, a dependable, faithful, father. I saw how scripture refers to YHUH as our heavenly Father, and I wanted that relationship badly. I also wanted a husband, and I saw in scripture that He referred to Himself as our husband. He’s a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow. It was a lonely time in my life, and I wanted a friend. I also wanted truth, and I believed the good news in the Bible, was truth. I just didn’t understand that truth, but I believed it before I understood it, before I could explain it to others. Some call that blind faith. What is faith if it isn’t blind? Having to see to believe doesn’t seem like faith at all.

Yahusha saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29

I had an experience the day I came to believe in Yahusha, that I cannot explain. My older sister who has since rejected the Bible, had invited me to her church. Her pastor preached a sermon that nailed on everything I mentioned I wanted above. He called people up to the front to accept the Father and His Son. I felt a very strong desire to go up, but I was too scared to budge. I was embarrassed. It was a large church and it was packed. I knew that if I made a public proclamation of faith, that I would be bound to my word, and that I would be held to a higher standard, and I didn’t know if I was ready for all that. I just bowed my head and prayed that I wouldn’t have to go up there. Everyone went and sat back down. However, the pastor kept saying there was one more person who’s heart was being tugged on to go up to receive prayer.

I knew he was talking about me. I felt my face turn red and hot and my heart was pounding. I started sweating and squirming. I could feel the pastor staring at me. I just knew everyone knew I was the one. My sister knew, too. She grabbed my elbow and asked if I wanted to go up. I nodded, that was all I could do, and she gave me the budge I needed to take the first step, and escorted me to the front. I burst into tears as the pastor laid his hands on me and prayed for me. It was such a relief as the burdens came off.

It turns out, I HAD to make a public proclamation of my faith in order to go through the way, the door:

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven...Matthew 10:32-33

I grieved for days at how I had grieved Him with my sins, how I had brought his death and suffering for my sins. I mourned over Him whom I had pierced, but I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratefulness and joy, and I kept wondering, “Why me?” I felt like He had left the 99 to come after the one, that He really cared for me, for some reason. Many are called but few are chosen. He chose me that day. How could I repay Him? To obey Him didn’t seem like nearly enough.

I was given a Bible, and I was directed to go to the Book of John, which directed me to the beginning, in Genesis:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH Aluhym, and the Word WAS Aluhym. He was in the beginning WITH Aluhym. John 1:1-2

I read and devoured those books, but I didn’t have the faith to live out what I read. The testing had begun. There was conflict in me, between the spirit and my flesh.

I had a desire to be a friend to the world, I struggled with the verses about being unequally yoked, thinking I could save my new unbelieving friends I was making, that I could be a light to them in a dark place, by hanging out with them. However, I would become a partaker in their evil deeds. I was weak in the faith and their darkness extinguished the little light I had. This caused me to set-aside that Bible for several years, because deep down, I had guilt about it. I was cruisin’ for a bruisin’. I didn’t want to hear that I needed to give up my new “friends” and other things that satisfied the flesh.

I occasionally picked that Bible back up and blew the dust off the cover, only to put it back down again. There was a struggle to do what was right, and I didn’t understand what I was reading, how I was to implement it into my life. Christians would not accept me because I was straddling the fence, I was trying to live a double life, but I hung around with unbelievers because I wasn’t convinced I couldn’t or shouldn’t. I desperately needed the faith and knowledge to stop one life in order to start the other.

Finally, I found myself pregnant, and without a husband. I prayed for a believer, whether a husband or friend, to be sent to be an example and teach me how to walk out what I was reading in the Bible. I accepted a life without a husband, whatever the will of the Father, but I was weak in the faith, and felt I needed a friend, and a support system, someone to encourage me in my walk. I wanted someone to hold me accountable, someone to tell me when I was being dumb.

Within weeks I was sent a friend who would start teaching me to avoid certain types of music, certain people, certain thoughts, certain articles of clothing, certain movies, etc…and encouraging me to pray, read my Bible, think on what’s good, and very soon this friend would become my husband.

We began walking together, and after a few years of marriage, YHUH got our attention about the Torah and we learned that we had been deceived about the names of the Father in heaven and His Son. We were informed that their names were Hebrew, and that there was no “J”, or “j” sound in Hebrew, that it was pronounced like a “Y”.

We were introduced by a family friend, a Messianic Jewish Rabbi, to the names, Yahweh, and Yeshua. All of a sudden I remembered what I had learned in Mr. Hornbach’s class that I had apparently filed away in the back of my mind, regarding the letter “j”, and Messiah’s name. We stopped using the names and titles we had originally been taught and saw in our modern Bible translations, and we began using Yahweh and Yeshua, as we were taught by the rabbi.

The Yahweh/Yeshua Conspiracy

After about 4 years in the Messianic/Hebrew Roots teachings and assemblies, I began to get annoyed that the same people that taught me these new names, were still often using the old ones they told us were wrong. To me, this was double-mindedness. It appeared to me as hypocrisy to tell Christians they are wrong for calling the Son, Jesus, which can mean, Zeus, sus, horse, or pig, in various languages, and then continuing to do that which they criticize. I started hearing the congregational leaders who once preached the name Yeshua, starting to criticize those who became zealous for that name.

Those who were zealous were labeled Sacred Namers. The Sacred Namers were discouraged and told that maybe their understanding wasn’t correct, maybe other variations of pronunciation were better, we couldn’t know for sure, so Yah would accept whatever we call His Son for now. The Sacred Namers were told not to cause confusion and division, and chastised if they studied out and used the name and taught it to others. This was all very frustrating, very confusing to me. I was being told one thing out of one side of the mouth, and another thing out of another.

One Friday night, I heard a young man, a relative of my husband, ask the Messianic Rabbi about the Father’s name. The Rabbi replied, “His name is Yahweh, but we do not speak that name, because it is too holy, and we are not holy enough to speak it, so we use Hebrew titles, such as Ha Adon, Ha Shem, etc…”

Something snapped within me when I heard that. I was boiling inside, a righteous anger was rising up, but I held my peace. The same man that told me as a Christian to stop using Greek titles such as Lord and God, that these titles had no meaning, and were not His name, was now telling us to use Hebrew titles instead, rather than the names he taught us. I began to wonder if we were still being deceived about the names, because it seemed like there was also a conspiracy going on in Messianic Judaism, to replace the names with titles. It was becoming apparent that the conspiracy to do away with His name was not just a Roman conspiracy, but one from Jerusalem as well. How could we know if the names we were told by these people were indeed their names?

And YHUH said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 11:9

My heart went out to that young man that wanted to know what the name was of the One he prayed to. Scriptures were brought to my remembrance about the importance of calling upon His name.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me…Hosea 4:6

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Mark 13:13

And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of YHUH. Genesis 4:26

I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of YHUH. Psalm 116:3

Learning Hebrew

I wanted to learn the true names, so I started seeking out those who knew Hebrew better than myself. One person stepped up to teach our family Hebrew, who was learning it from a Jewish Holocaust survivor. This Jewish man had a doctorate and spoke many languages, including Hebrew, and had written several books on languages. So we began attending classes, learning the aleph bet. One of the first things I remember learning, is that there was no letter “v” or “v” sound, in ancient Hebrew, but that now the Jewish people pronounce the Hebrew letter “vav” (which some call the “waw”, and I call the “uau”), like a “v”, or sometimes a “w”, or a “u”.

We were also taught the letter, “bet” was always a “b” sound in ancient Hebrew, but that now in modern Hebrew they would sometimes pronounce it as a “v”, and call it a “vet”, and this would be indicated by vowel pointers, how you should pronounce it. So Hebrew went from having no letters that say, “v”, to two letters that produce that sound.

Yehovah – No “V” in Ancient Hebrew

Eventually, we got around to learning about the Father’s name. This Hebrew “expert”, informed us that his grandfather was a Levite rabbi, killed in the Holocaust, and that before he died, every year on Yom Kippur, his grandfather would pronounce the name of the Father in his prayers, only once a year, and that he overheard how his grandfather would pronounce the name. He said the name was pronounced, “Yehovah”. That sounded strange to me, in the light that they had just taught us that the ancient Hebrew had no “v” sound. We blindly went along with that for a while, not realizing that this was no better than using Yahweh, not knowing how we would know for sure.

More of our friends were starting to use Yehovah, as this was the name being taught by Nehemiah Gordon, and the growing Karaite Movement among the Hebrew Roots crowd. One day, I was listening to Nehemiah and Keith Johnson teaching on the name, and Nehemiah also mentioned that there was no “v” sound in ancient Hebrew, but then went on to insist that His name was pronounced, “Yehovah”.

He said it is uncertain how the name was pronounced in ancient times, but that Yahweh was wrong, because the ending, eh, with a long “a” sound, was wrong. He said the name had to end in an “ah”, in order to be correct. So here was another Hebrew “expert” saying there is no “v” sound, and essentially admitting to teaching a false name.

Double speech. I was starting to notice a pattern of this in the Hebrew/Messianic/Jewish teachers. Within one week I would hear two other Hebrew teachers make the same admission, that there was no “v” sound in ancient Hebrew, but still insisting on the pronunciation with a “v” sound.

Letting the Spirit and the Word Teach Hebrew

I was sent a teaching about the name by someone in an email. It explained also that there was no “v” sound in ancient Hebrew, but it did offer a tip in seeking out the truth on the matter – to look up other Hebrew words with the “vav”, to see how it was pronounced in less controversial Hebrew words, like Judah, pronounced in ancient times as Yahudah. This method sounded like wisdom to me, because it calls for other witnesses from scripture.

In the word, ruach, as in ruach hakodesh, or holy spirit, the “uau” is still pronounced as a long “u” sound. I find it extremely interesting that I would come to use this word, ruach, spirit, to aid me in sorting out how to pronounce the letter uau, and how to pronounce the names. It reminds me of this verse:

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. John 16:13

The Hebrew word, ruach, spirit, led me into all truth regarding the names. How is the “uau” pronounced in the word, Jerusalem/Yarushalayim? It’s not pronounced as a “v”, “o”, or a “w”.

What about David? I noticed the “vav” in his name while looking through a concordance. Remember that his name is supposed to mean, beloved? Well, right there in the concordance, under David’s name, which is spelled dalet-uau-dalet, there is the word the concordance said was pronounced, dud, with a long “u” sound, and the definition of that word, was beloved.

If the word, beloved, is pronounced, dude, silent e, long u, and the word means beloved, then why would the name, David, which means beloved, and is spelled exactly the same, not be pronounced the same way? Of course it would be.

We are told that the name of Messiah, is the same name, spelling, and pronunciation, as Joshua’s Hebrew name, and is found in the Hebrew bible as, yod-hey-uau-shin-ayin, or y-h-u-sh-a, in Numbers 13:16, when Joshua’s name was first changed from Hosea to Yahusha by Moses. If the “vav” was a “v” sound, wouldn’t the Son’s name have a “v” sound in it, since it has a “vav”, or uau? There’s not a consistent pronunciation of that letter between Yehovah and Yeshua. Either it’s a “vav” that says “v”, a “uau” or “waw” that says “u” or “w”. Some modern Hebrew words even have the “vav” with vowel pointers suggesting it sometimes makes a long “o” sound. I will explain why I believe this is wrong as well.

I can see how the “u” and “w” sounds can be interchangeable, as far as in some words, like ruach, or Yahuah, because you can have both a “w” and a “u” sound, in those words, depending on how one pronounces it. Yet, these words are only spelled with one “uau”, and no other letters that make that sound. (Several months ago, I was chastised by a member of WLC’s website for not spelling out YHUH, the way WLC spells it out, Yahuwah.) It’s not spelled YHUUH, or YHUWH, just 4 letters, YHUH, and the “uau”, when you move from the “u”, to the “ah” sound in the hey, it CAN create a “w” sound, if one gets lazy with the Hebrew pronunciation. We see that in some English words as well. If YHUH doesn’t spell His name in the Hebrew with 2 uau’s, why do I have to spell it in the English with a “u” and a “w”? Whether you spell it, YaHUaH, or YaHUWaH, in English, or Hebrew, either way, it’s pronounced the same.

In words, like Dud, Yahudah, and Yarushalayim, there is a “u” sound, no “o” sound, no “v” sound, and no “w” sound. For this reason, I decided that the “u” is the most logical pronunciation of that letter, and that the letter is a “uau”, that it is in some ways similar to a “w”. I read the “w” came later, hence the name double u. The u was first. If the “uau” was originally an “o” sound, like in Yehovah, we would be calling them “Joes”, not “Jews”. The “u” sound was always there. Jerusalem/Yarushalayim would be Yaroshalayim/Jerosalem, Judah/Yahudah would be Jodah/Yahodah. Please think about how we would pronounce these words if the “uau” were supposed to be pronounced as a “v” or “w”. How would we pronounce Jerusalem or Yahudah in this case? People don’t think things through, do they?

Then there was the issue with the “yod”, or yud, at the beginning of the names of the Father and His Son. How was that to be pronounced? Is it “Ye”, or “Ya”? Again, I went back to the older version of the pronunciation of words that began with yod, or y, like Yarushalayim, Yahudah, yada (to know), Hallelu yah, pick any word or name beginning with a “yod” in the Concordance, and you will find most words are pronounced with a “Ya”. I read the “Ye”, came later. Some say it was introduced in Babylon, others say it was much later with the Greeks, but in any case, it came later, and was involved in the “Je” in Jesus, Jehovah, and Jerusalem, obviously not the correct and original pronunciations of those names.

The last issue was the pronunciation of the last “hey”. I knew it made an “h” sound, but was not sure if it was a long “a” ending sound, like in Yahweh, or “ah”, like to praise, yadah, and Yahudah, which means to praise Yahuah, as we see in Genesis 29:35. I used the same method I used for the “u” and the “ya”, and looked at other Hebrew words in the concordance that ended in hey like Yahudah. I found in most of them that the hey at the end makes the “ah” sound, and the few words with the “eh” sound, like in Moshe, were pronunciations that came later, and were influences from the nations, things picked up by the Jews in exile at some point.

I was starting to see that there may be a bit of truth and a bit of a lie mixed in both of these versions of the Father’s name. The Yah in Yahweh rang true with other Hebrew words beginning with the “yod”, but I had to put down the ending. In Yehovah, the ah ending appeared to be the good I needed to hold onto, because of the evidence in other Hebrew words with the same “hey” ending, having an “ah” sound.

Yahudah and the Door

I also noticed that YaHUDaH, YHUDH is spelled exactly the same as YaHUaH, YHUH, except Yahudah adds the dalet, which means door. I could not help but notice that Yahusha, the door, came from the tribe of Yahudah. That gives us even more insight into why Yahudah would be the tribe the door, Yahusha, would come to us through. If you take the “d” out of Yahudah, you get Yahuah. Take the dalet out of Yahudah, and put the shin in its place, and you get Yahusha. It’s spelled yod-hey-uau-shin-ayin, or y-h-u-sh-a. How we get Yeshua out of that, I don’t know. That would be yod-shin-uau-ayin, y-sh-u-a, and you have to switch around the shin and uau and leave out the hey in the Father’s name, in order to get Yeshua, not to mention you’d have to mess up the Ya and twist it to ye.

Then said Yahusha unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. John 10:7

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. John 10:9

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. John 10:1

But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. John 10:2

Yahusha Comes in Yahuah’s Name

Scripture says Yahusha comes in Yahuah’s name. Yeshua is nothing like Yehovah or Yahweh. Yahuah and Yahusha ARE similar, they both say Yahu at the beginning, and have an “ah” sound at the end.

YaHUSHA comes in YaHUaH’s name. In YaHUSHA, we have the yod, hey, uau, with the addition of the shin and the ayin. In Yeshua we have the yod, and the uau, but no hey. Without the hey, Yeshua does not reveal the Father’s name, as hey, means to reveal. Yahusha said in John 17 that He revealed the Father’s name. The name Yeshua does not fulfill that, the name Yahusha does.

I’m not seeing Yeshua in the text anyway. Messiah’s name is clearly the same name as Joshua’s, and that never appears in Hebrew as Yeshua. Yashua, yes, sometimes, or Yahusha, or Yahushua, but He comes in the Father’s name, and the Father is YaH, not Yeh. Praise Yah! Hallelu YaH!

Joshua’s name is mentioned 216 times in the Tanach, according to Strong’s, and 214 of those times it appears as Yahusha, yod-hey-uau-shin-ayin, and only twice as Yahushua as an alternate spelling for Yahusha. That spelling is the same, but with a second “uau”. However, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Joshua’s name appears as Yahusha and Yashua, but also Yahushua. All 3 seem to be used in both the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls, so it seems the Masoretic text is supported by the DSS. All 3 variations of the Yahusha’s name appear to be valid. This happens with the Father’s name, too. We understand the text calls him YaH, YaHU, or YaHUaH. One is longer than the others, but we know they are all still speaking of the same BEING, none of THESE 3 variances of the Father’s name are incorrect or the result of a conspiracy.

The Son of YAHUAH, has His Father’s Name with a Shin and an Ayin added to the end. Shin means “Tooth” and Ayin means “Eye”. So in the death of the Son, the law of an “Eye for an Eye, and a Tooth for a Tooth” is fulfilled.

The spelling “Yahushua” is found in Deuteronomy 3:21 and Judges 2:7, but in each case they are referencing the person named Yahusha and the context involves supplication, someone is crying out. In Deuteronomy, Moses is crying out about not getting to enter the land, and telling Israel that Yahushua/Yahusha/Joshua, will be leading them instead. In Judges, there is mourning because of Yahusha’s death (Joshua) of Nun), so, this is why the “shua” was added to the end of the name here. This may have been a play on words, to add more spiritual understanding and emphasis to what was going on in these 2 stories. “SHUA” means “to Cry out for help or salvation.

Hebrew names can be translated; they make a statement, like Yahusha means “YAHUAH is Salvation” or Deliverance.

I Have Come in My Father’s Name, and you Do Not Accept Me; but if Someone Else Comes in his own Name, you will Accept him. YAHUCANNAN/JOHN 5:43

YASHA YAHU/Isaiah 62:11 reads, Behold, YAHUAH hath proclaimed to the end of the world, “Say ye to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, THE DELIVERANCE/Salvation come; behold His reward is with Him and His work before Him.’”

“His” points back to Salvation and describes Salvation as a person. The Hebrew root word used here is yasha, and means salvation, liberty, deliverance, free, to be safe, deliver. Therefore, YAHUAH’s Salvation, or YAHUSHA, was to come to set at liberty, deliver, free and cause to be safe, the daughter of Zion.

MATHATHYAHU/MATTHEW 1:21: “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name YAHUSHA, for He will Save/DELIVER His people from their sins.”

YaSha(H-3467) is a primitive root that means salvation, to save. It means to make free, deliverer or Savior.

Joshua’s Original Name, Husha, Becomes Yahusha

I mentioned before, that Yahusha shared His name with Joshua, son of Nun. If you remember, in Numbers 13, Moses changed Joshua’s name. Joshua was at first called Hosea, or Husha, which means salvation. The root of that name is yasha. There is no shua in Husha’s name. Moses changed Husha son of Nun’s name to Yahusha. Let’s examine the evidence:

הוֹשֵׁעַ

Remember this is read right to left. Husha is spelled in Hebrew, hey-uau-shin-ayin. Hmmm, exactly like Yahusha, except without the yod. Well, then in verse 16, Moses added the yod to make it YaHUSHA, yod-hey-uau-shin-ayin. How does that not form the name Yahusha? How does that say Yahushua, or Yeshua, or Yashua? There is no SECOND uau, and the uau that IS there, is before the shin, not after it.

Strong’s says Husha means salvation. Tack a Ya on the front like Moses and YHUH did and you get Yahusha – YaH is salvation, or salvation of YaH. I believe the Ya was added for several reasons, the first one to demonstrate that it was YaH who brought them into the land, not the man – Husha – who led them in. I believe it was to give glory to YaHUaH for that miracle, rather than a man, to stress that salvation is from YaH. The second reason I believe his name was changed to Yahusha, is to prophesy that just as the man we call Joshua today, who the scriptures call Yahusha, led Israel into the land, so also will come another with the same name, who will lead us into the Kingdom. It’s ALWAYS very significant when someone’s name is changed in scripture.

Strong’s will tell you Husha should be pronounced Hosea, Hoshea, or Oshea, but we can’t believe everything Strong’s says, because it goes along with the conspiracy to hide and change the names of the Father and the Son. Of course they will hide the true pronunciation of Husha, because it’s in the name Yahusha. To get the pronunciation Oshea, one must remove the Hebrew letter “hey” from the beginning of the name. One must also use a vowel pointer telling you to pronounce the “uau” like an o, and don’t ask me where they are getting a “sheya” sound at the end. The ending of Husha is shin-ayin, which says “sha”. I was never taught that the ayin can have a long “a” sound, like cake. It seems to me to get, “sheya”, one would also add a “yod” to the end of Husha, before the “ayin”, to get the “ya” sound. Hosea is English, not Hebrew.

Speaking of Hosea, there’s the prophet Hosea, Husha, who also gives us a brilliant picture of Yahusha, being the husband to Israel, the harlot, who redeems her and brings her back to Him again.

Learning Hebrew

I don’t agree with the Jewish vowel pointers, that tell the reader how to pronounce the word, as the reader may have already noticed.

I just sound out the letters, knowing what sounds they make. They are very similar to English, in my mind, as I understand that all languages branched off from the one language that they were using at the tower of Babel, and that their languages/tongues, were changed just enough that they could not understand each other enough to accomplish their evil plans.

Hey says “h”, uau is a long “u” sound, shin says “sh”, and ayin is a short “a” sound, that sounds like a short “o”, as in the English words, got, or ox, or the Hebrew word, Abba, which means Father. I actually met some people online that spell Yahusha in the English as, Y-H-U-SH-O, but pronounce the “O”, or ayin, at the end, like the “a” in Abba. I don’t see anything wrong with that. I think they use the “O” instead of the “A” because of the ayin word picture of the eye, which would appear more like the English letter O than the A. Hebrew is much more simple than man makes it out to be. They complicate it because they want those not schooled in Hebrew to believe they have to follow the Jews in order to understand the Torah. Scripture says otherwise.

You can learn the letters of the aleph bet, learn the sounds they make, not according to what the Jews teach and their vowel pointers, but with witnesses from scripture, and allow the word and spirit to teach you the language YHUH originally chose to speak to His people in written form.

Here’s a link to a chart I referred to often as I was learning Hebrew. It’s very helpful, I found, in translating the Modern Hebrew to an easier to understand, more biblical and ancient Hebrew:

http://ancient-hebrew.org/alphabet_chart.html

Division Over Names

I’m zealous about His name, and see that I am commanded to proclaim His name, exalt His name, bless His name, and praise His name, as Moses, the Prophets, Yahusha, and His disciples did. We are to do as Yahusha did, and Yahusha revealed His name to the disciples, his students:

“Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb. “For I proclaim the name of YHUH…” Deuteronomy 32:2-3

I have revealed Your name to those You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. John 17:6

I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. While I was with them, I protected them and guarded them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:11-12

And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26

He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the congregation.” Hebrew 2:12

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Psalms 22:12

Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know! Psalm 30:4

John 17:11 teaches us that the Father and Son’s names are One, that Yahusha revealed and made known the Father’s name, that the Son received His name from the Father, that those names bring protection, and that those names bring unity to those who call upon those names in order to be saved.

I don’t know how many times, when the issue of the names comes up and I begin to proclaim them to people who don’t exalt the names I use, they begin to suggest that insisting on using those names is causing division. Yes, Yahusha does say He comes to bring a sword:

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34

A sword cuts and divides in two. In fact, Yahusha’s name consists of the letter shin, which means two, cut, sharp. Sounds like a sword to ME, something sharp that cuts things in two. A sword brandished in times of strife, conflict, and division.

Even the letters in His name imply that the very essence of His name is to bring division, to separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff, those in darkness from those in light. So, yes, His name brings division, and it brings persecution, because His enemies hate his name, it pierces their soul, it exposes their evil thoughts and evil intentions and evil deeds. The darkness hates the light. His name is light.

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. Luke 21:16-17

For the word of Aluhym is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

According to the verse in Luke 21, it’s those who DON’T LOVE His NAME, who betray and put to death those who do. Who are the ones causing the division here? It’s their choice to hate His name, and it’s that choice that brings the division. I don’t cut off fellowship with someone because they do not use the same names I do, because I also used other names at one time, before I studied it out. I’m certain there are others still uninformed, that would embrace the names once the knowledge in the scriptures concerning them is given them. For this reason, I continue to declare the names to those who do not yet cling to them, and do not cut-off fellowship, but my use of the names has sometimes resulted in others cutting off fellowship with me. Many Sacred Namers have been chased away by those who criticize being zealous for the names, because of all the accusations of causing division, all the verbal stoning, the discouragement, the temptation to bow the knee to men and Baal, all the attempts to get us to deny Him and blaspheme and bring guilt upon ourselves.

As long as we use Yahweh because it’s what the Orthodox Jews teach, or use Yehovah because it’s the name the Karaite Jews insist on, division will remain, because some sheep follow those men, and other sheep follow this other man, instead of following the true Shepherd – Yahusha the Messiah – who comes in the Name of and leads us to the Father – Yahuah.

There was a time when I wondered if we should divide over the names. However, I noticed that in Acts, the apostles were not afraid to enter the market places of the gentiles, or the synagogues of the Jews on the Sabbath, to proclaim the names to those who used other names. Paul was in the Jewish Synagogues ON THE SABBATH, persuading the Jews AND the GREEKS. Paul was NOT meeting them in Greek Temples on Greek appointed times, but Jews and repentant Greeks alike, even in GREECE, were acknowledging YHUH’s Sabbath, and gathering THEN in the synagogues, to hear what Moses had to say on the Sabbath day. This should be our model regarding when and where we meet to hear Moses preached. We should continue to proclaim His name to those who hate His name, and if they choose to divide or come after us with verbal tongue lashings because we continue to preach in His name, so be it. That said, I do not pray with them in other names, and I do not compromise the truth and light of His name in my efforts to share truth with others.

Acts 5 and Acts 18 and the Names

In the Book of Acts, Chapter 18, we read about Paul preaching the name of Yahusha and His role as Messiah in the synagogues in Athens, Greece:

And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Acts 18:4

…And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Yahusha was Messiah. Acts 18:5

…In verse 6, the Jews are infuriated, and “oppose” themselves (set themselves against their own nation and King), and blaspheme, because they are enraged by Paul’s testimony that Yahusha was Messiah.

Paul shakes his garment as a sign to them that their blood be upon their own heads, and announces he is going to the gentiles. What caused Paul to leave the synagogue in Athens was the Jews’ opposition and blasphemy against the testimony of Yahusha…continuing on in Acts to the next verse:

And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped Aluhym, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. Acts 18:7

And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Master with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Acts 18:8

I’m sure the other religious leaders were furious about all the people being converted to believing in Yahusha, even the leader of the synagogue and his house. Going on to the next few verses in Acts 18:

Then spake the Master to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of Aluhym among them. Acts 18:9-12

So a year and a half later, while dwelling with the brethren and teaching them the Word in that house…

And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship Aluhym contrary to the law. Acts 18:12-13

…Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. Acts 18:14-15

So Gallio said the Jews were bringing him matters of words and names and the Jewish law, and verse 13 says the Jews accused Paul of persuading men to worship Aluhym contrary to the law. It appears, throughout this chapter, the issue the Jews have is with Paul’s testimony that Yahusha is Messiah, and that this testimony agrees with and is taught in the Law, and that they could worship YHUH in Messiah Yahusha. They are accusing Paul of idolatry and blasphemy. Yahusha was accused of blasphemy when he was killed, because He and His followers claimed Him to be THE Messiah, YHUH’s Son, and the King of the Jews. Because Paul held to the same testimony, he would face the same accusations from the Jews who would not believe in Yahusha’s NAME.

Just in case there’s STILL any doubt among some that the NAMES were not a major issue between Paul and the Jews who persecuted him, let’s take a look at Acts 5, starting at verse 17:

17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,

18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

19 But the messenger of YHUH by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,

20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told,

23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.

24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.

26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,

28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.

29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey Aluhym rather than men.

30 The Aluhym of our fathers raised up Yahusha, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

31 Him hath Aluhym exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom Aluhym hath given to them that obey him.

33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

There’s the testimony of Yahusha cutting the heart, remember, the shin in His name means to cut, and now those who do not believe in His NAME, take counsel to slay/cut…

34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;

This was the same Gamaliel mentioned by Paul in Acts 22:3, whose feet Paul sat at and learned the Law from. It appears Gamaliel is urging the Sanhedrin to tread carefully and not harm those who hold the testimony of Yahusha, and suggests there is a possibility their works could be of Aluhym, and that to fight against their testimony, could be fighting against YHUH, and in vain.

35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:

39 But if it be of Aluhym, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against Aluhym.

40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Yahusha, and let them go.

41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Yahusha Messiah.

They disobeyed the council, the Sanhedrin, and they continued to teach and preach Yahusha and His NAME. In verse 29, when commanded to not speak in that name, the believers stated that it was better to obey Aluhym rather than men. YHUH’s Word ALWAYS trumps the word of the Sanhedrin and other men in positions of “authority”. Yahusha says you are to avoid their leaven, therefore, you shall do it. Because the Sanhedrin misused their authority, attempting to elevate their YHUH given authority over YHUH, YHUH took their authority away soon after they rejected the One who gave them that authority. Yahusha prophesied King and Priest would be rejected and the Temple and Jerusalem would be destroyed and they would go off into exile. They lost the authority He had given them. Judah handed Shiloh the scepter that was rightfully and originally His. The scepter now departed from Judah, because Shiloh – Yahusha, had come. Genesis 49:10.

Last year, I was a member on a website, and a Messianic contacted me saying he and his wife were seeking fellowship, that we had similar beliefs. We began to compare our beliefs on core issues, and he mentioned he noticed that we don’t use the name Yeshua, which they used. I replied with our testimony about why and how we began to use the name Yahusha. He replied to me that they were aware of the “correct” way to pronounce the name, but that in following the Jews, they INTENTIONALLY MISspell the name, so as not to speak the name. Again, someone admitting to me that they intentionally lie, giving false testimony, about His NAME. I was floored that this person actually admitted to me what I had suspected for years. He was involved in a great conspiracy against the NAMES. What a terrible fate awaits such as these! Indeed, there is still a conspiracy against YHUH in Judah, and as Ezekiel states:

Why do the nations conspire     and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up     and the rulers band together     against YHUH and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains

And throw off their shackles.” Psalm 2:1-3

Back to the Greeks in Acts 18

On Mars’ Hill, in Acts 17, Paul introduces the Greeks in Athens to the names of the Father and His Son, who resurrected:

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. Acts 17:23

…And the times of this ignorance Aluhym winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30

The Greeks were IGNORANT of His NAME. They did not know His name. Paul says Aluhym NOW commands ALL men everywhere to REPENT of this IGNORANCE of NOT KNOWING His NAME. If one is in ignorance regarding YHUH’s name, it’s not because nobody has declared it to them, but because they have not heard and tested what’s being said to them. If a person is still unsure about the names, by not studying the matter out, he is making a choice to sin against that command to repent of that ignorance of His name. That person is choosing to blindly follow the Pharisees or the religious leaders of the Romans or Greeks who suppress the knowledge of the names, he is choosing to remain in ignorance on the matter – a matter of salvation. We are blessed if we seek His name:

And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Genesis 32:29

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. Exodus 20:24

And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. Numbers 6:27

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. Psalm 91:4

As Paul was told in Acts 18:9, we cannot be afraid, we cannot continue to hold our peace out of fear of rejection or fear of losing fellowship. Perfect love casts out all fear, so if we have fear, we do not have love. We must love YHUH before, and more than, our brother. Fear of men leads to obeying men instead of YHUH, in an effort to save one’s own life:

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:25

Yahusha declared “‘Love YHUH your Aluhym with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38

YHUH comes first, the command to love our brother was put second. Choose this day whom you will serve…

Blessings in Yahusha/Yahushua/Yashua Messiah’s Name