Our Father's Name Is Yahweh

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.” [Numbers 6.22-27]

Once again today, I see an unfortunate loss of information in our translation of the Bible.

All the words, "Lord" above are depicted in small caps in most translations meaning the original Hebrew word used here is the actual name of God, "YHWH" (or "Yahweh," as best we know).

The unfortunate thing about masking the Name of God in translating the Hebrew is that those of us who read it today really are not faced with the actual gravity of Yahweh's Name! This is particularly important because God Himself said He would bless Israel when Aaron and his sons blessed them IN HIS NAME!

I think of all the years my wife and I pronounced this blessing over our children while they were at home each night before going to sleep speaking the words, "the Lord," instead of Yahweh. How much more effective and meaningful could this blessing have been had we comprehended and respectfully spoke God's actual Name when pronouncing this blessing?

Our Father's Name is Yahweh. Over and again throughout the Bible He Himself spoke His Name in reference to His holiness, authority and power. For us to say it doesn't matter is to fail to give honor to the Name Yahweh Himself declares to be significant beyond all others.

Here is another thought... what do we convey (both inwardly and outwardly) in translating the Bible to mask God's actual Name but freely use Jesus' Name? If masking God's Name is a matter of piety, then why would we not mask the Name of  His Son with as much piety?

Father, Yahweh, forgive us for religious things we do that ultimately bring no glory to You!