We’ve been over this, again and again, so let’s go over it one more time.

The Tetragrammaton, the four-letter word that God told Moses, is God’s Holy Name, and how it is used in speech and prayer should honor God.

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Yet, there are some who use his Holy Name as if it was just any ordinary name, like Tom or Dick or even Steve. They also condemn anyone who doesn’t use it.

They are called (and it probably isn’t the nicest appellation) “Holy Namers”, and that is because they constantly use the Hebrew name of God, those 4 Hebrew letters called the Tetragrammaton. That name is composed of the letters Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh (יהוה), and has been pronounced in any number of different ways.

And their justification for this is when the Bible uses the term “Call on the Name” or “The name of the Lord”, they take that out of context, both written and cultural, to mean using the Tetragrammaton.

Now, as a Jewish man I never even try to pronounce that name because it is God’s Holy Name, and Jews don’t pronounce it out of respect for God.

Many Christians, especially the Holy Namers, must think that they are on a first-name basis with the Lord, God, Almighty; addressing him as if he was one of their human friends.

If you met a world leader, would you call that person by their first name?

If you met the CEO of the company you work for, would you call him or her by their first name?

If you met a teacher that you highly respected from your past, would you call that person by their first name?

I hope not- that would be disrespectful, wouldn’t it?

So what makes anyone think they are on such a high, spiritual level that they can address God by his first name?

This is the very reason why Jews do not pronounce God’s name, but instead substitute Adonai (which means “Lord”), or HaShem (which means “the name), or Elohim or Shaddai (both different names for God, but not his actual name) whenever we come across the Tetragrammaton in the Tanakh.

We also feel that using God’s Holy Name is a violation of the 3rd Commandment.

Yet, despite these highly logical and respectful reasons for not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, Holy Namers accuse us of being wrong by not pronouncing the name of God!

I think, and this is my own idea, that because Christians are brought up saying Jesus’s name all the time that they think it is also OK to use God’s Holy Name just as easily.

But, as for the term “the name of the Lord”, when used in the Bible almost always has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the Tetragrammaton.

The phrase “name of the Lord” refers to God’s reputation and his greatness. It represents his power, his goodness, his mercy, and everything else about God- everything, that is, but his actual name.

There are times when we do see his actual name being used, such as when Moses needed to use it to convince the people in Egypt that he was sent by God, but the need to pronounce the Tetragrammaton is rarely found in the Tanakh.

In the New Covenant it is almost completely missing, and the name that is referred to mostly is “Yeshua”. But even in the case where Yeshua says “in my name”, that doesn’t mean that we are to say “Yeshua”, or “Jesus” (which isn’t his name, to begin with) but to refer to his role as the Messiah.

So, look- if you want to call out the Holy Name of God, I won’t tell you it is wrong, and I never tell anyone what they should think, but I would ask you to consider what I have said about respecting God.

It isn’t a sin to respect God by referring to him as Lord or Sir (another usage of Adonai) or Elohim or Shaddai; but, it just may be disrespectful to address God as you would your drinking buddies.

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And remember that I always welcome your comments.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

We all know the story in Genesis 22, which we call the Akedah (binding), where Abraham obeys God’s demand that he sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah.

We also all know that this is all about testing Abraham’s faith.

Or, is it?

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I had recently posted a message regarding the way Christianity has misrepresented Yeshua (Jesus) as more of an Absalom, a son who defied his father’s authority and rebelled to have people follow him, than an Isaac who obeyed his father’s wishes, even unto death.

That is when it “hit” me: yes, the Akedah is certainly a story about the faith of Abraham, but isn’t it also a story about the obedience of Isaac?

It is considered a messianic passage by almost everyone, and as such, it isn’t just about the father willing to sacrifice his only son, but it is about the son, willing to be obedient to his father at all costs.

Just as Yeshua, the Messiah, was so obedient to his father, God, as to allow himself to be sacrificed.

It was, to me, a realization of a different aspect of the Akedah that, to my knowledge and from my experience, has not been addressed.

So, what do you think? I think there are two very important lessons from the Akedah:

1. The standard lesson that Abraham’s faith was strong enough to let him sacrifice his son, just as God’s love for us was strong enough for him to sacrifice his son; and
2. That Isaac’s obedience to his father was strong enough to allow him to let himself be sacrificed, and although he wasn’t, in Yeshua’s case he was.

That’s all I wanted to say (I know- who woddah ‘tought I could write such a short message?)

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please read and agree to the rules), and remember that I always welcome your comments.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

I know, I know…you have always been taught that salvation is a free gift from God and cannot be bought or earned.

Now, the part about salvation being a free gift from God and impossible to be purchased is true; however, according to what God tells us, salvation can be earned!

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How can I say salvation can be earned when all our religious leaders tell us it can’t? And even more than that, what justification do I have to claim that God, himself, tells us we can earn salvation?

I’m glad you asked.

God gave us the Torah, which tells us, in simple to understand language, what he wants us to do. And, if we do what he wants us to do, then we are righteous in his eyes. And, if we are righteous in his eyes, then we will be saved, i.e., we will not face the second death but instead be in God’s presence for all eternity.

I believe that is what we refer to as “salvation”, is it not?

And, if you need more proof, then I present to you the Messiah, Yeshua.

Here is a man, 100% human, who lived his entire life in perfect accordance with the Torah. And, after he died, he was resurrected and allowed into the presence of the Lord. In fact, more than just allowed to be there- he sits at God’s right hand!

For those of you who are members of this ministry, you will no doubt recall that when I refer to the Torah I rarely refer to it as commandments or law, but more often than not as God’s instructions.

The Torah was given to us by God (and I do not mean just us Jews, but to US: everyone throughout the world) so that we would know exactly how to worship him, how to treat each other, how to conduct business, how to punish those who do wrong, and how to conduct our interpersonal (intimate) relationships.

And in Deuteronomy 28, he tells us that when we do what he says, he will bless us; but, if we refuse to do as he says, we will suffer curses galore.

God also tells us, more than once, that we must not add to or take away from any of the instructions he gave us.

It is obvious that God gave us the Torah so we could know what he wants us to do in order to receive salvation.

So, nu? If this is true, then why have religious leaders told us for generations on end that no one can earn salvation?

I’m glad you asked.

The answer is simple: except for Yeshua, no one has been able to follow every instruction in the Torah because (as the Bible tells us, many, many times) we are all born sinners: we have, we do, and we always will sin.

It is this inability of humans to not sin that keeps us from being in accordance with the Torah, and as such, makes it impossible for us to earn the salvation that the Torah provides.

Maybe what they should be teaching is that salvation is possible if we live every day, for our entire lives, in perfect accord with the instructions God gave in the Torah, but so far (except for one, and we know who he is) no one has ever been able to do that because of our inescapable iniquity (the desire to sin).

God gave us his instructions on how we can earn salvation through sinless living, but he also knew that we wouldn’t be able to do that, so he took a lesson from school teachers…when a teacher has a course that is a very difficult subject to learn, but there has to be a test on it, the teacher will grade the test on a “curve”, which is sort of like a handicap in golf.

God gave us a difficult task, which is to obey his instructions, and he knew that it would be nearly impossible, so he grades us on a curve- that curve is the Messiah. By accepting Yeshua as your Messiah, STILL trying to live as God said to live, when you fail, the Messiah is your handicap, bringing you back to “par” with God.

BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO TRY TO LIVE AS GOD SAID YOU SHOULD!

Following standard Christian teaching that Yeshua did away with God’s instructions will not help at all, and the test paper you turn in will come back with a big, fat “F” on it!

And for us Jews, when we follow Talmudic Halacha as more important than God’s instructions (which is one of the things Yeshua chided the Pharisees about), we are adding to what he said, which is (by definition) a sin.

Accept Yeshua (Jesus) as your Messiah, then read what God says you should do- not what some human created religion tells you to do!

And you know what? You don’t even have to read the entire Torah: just read Leviticus and Deuteronomy and you will know all you need to know to take that salvation test and pass.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to this ministry on both my website and YouTube channels. Also join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word”, but please make sure you read and agree to the rules.

And if you like what you get here, you will like my books, as well, which are available in both paperback and digital formats: you can buy them through my website or go to Amazon books.

Well, that’s it for today so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!