Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 4

Subject:  "Yahweh" or "Lord"? 

When we read the NT, we notice  a discrepancy between the NT and OT: 

• "Call on the Name of Yahweh" in OT 

Joel 2:32 "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of  Yahweh shall be delivered …"

• "Call on the Name of the Lord" in NT

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved."  Acts 2:21

“Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

Acts 2:21 & Romans 10:13 are quoting from Joel 2:32:

• Why doesn't the NT say to "call on the Name of Yahweh?"

• Why does NT replace "Yahweh" with "Lord"?

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We need to realize that the OT is written in Hebrew while the NT is written in Greek. 

• In the  original Hebrew text, "Yahweh" is there. 

• But in the NT,  the word "Yahweh" is taken out.  "Yahweh"  is replaced with "Lord".   

In the NT times, very few people used the Hebrew Old Testament as Greek became the common language. Around 250 BC, the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek by Jewish scholars.  This translation is called the Septuagint translation known as the LXX (70).  The LXX was used widely among the apostles in the Gentile Grecian world.  In the process of translations, the Jews were afraid to say God's Name, so whenever they saw "Yahweh", they replaced God's Name with "Adonai".   In Greek, "Adonai" was translated as "kurios".   "kurios" is "Lord" in English. 

The Greek translation in the LXX for Joel 2:32 is, "hos an epikalesastai to onoma kuriou" which when translated to English is "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord."

So whenever we see OT quotations in the NT, they are usually quoting from the LXX rather than from the Hebrew text.

This is why in Acts 2:21 and Rom 10:13, it reads "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

• These are quotes taken from the LXX.  
• You see 'Lord' there because it is a translation from the Greek word 'kurios'.

Peter & Paul are quoting from the LXX version of Joel 2:32.

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But when we look at the original Hebrew text of Joel 2:32, this is what we read:

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of  Yahweh shall be delivered …"  

It says specifically to call on the Name of Yahweh.

This is an unfortunate thing that happened in the process of translation.  "Yahweh" is replaced by the word "kurios" in Greek.  "Yahweh" is replaced by a title "Lord". 


Let not the unfortunate "weakness" of translation hinder us from calling on the Name of Yahweh!

"Yahweh" is not written in most of our modern day Bible translations. "Yahweh" is replaced by the word "LORD".  This is one of the reason why God's Name is hardly mentioned in the churches.  

This is so sad because "Yahweh" appears nearly 7000X, the most frequent noun in the Bible, the most important Name in the Bible, yet the distinctive personal Name of God is totally wiped out in our Bibles translations. The most important revelation of "I am Yahweh" from God is gone.

God's Name had turned silent down through the centuries.  

Today, let's arise and focus on calling on the Name of Yahweh that the outpouring of the Spirit will fill His people in these end times for the final deliverance.

:)

Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 3

Subject:  Calling & Final Salvation 

The apostle Peter also exhorts the early churches to call on the Name of the Lord.

Acts 2:21, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.

"Call on the Name of the Lord" is linked with our final salvation.

The Bible tells us that there is a progression in our salvation - past, present and future.   Our final salvation is in the future.  

Our final salvation is summed up in these words: 

Calling on the Name of the Lord.  

Who is going to be saved?  
Those who call on the name of the Lord.  

Wow, this matter of calling on the Lord is so important that it concerns our eternal salvation - whether we will finally be saved in the end.

Can you see how important this matter of calling on the Lord is?  Our eternal salvation depends on our calling on the Name of the Lord.

Do you want to learn to call on the Name of the Lord?

Acts 2:21 is part of the message of  Peter's Pentecostal sermon to the early church.  We are so blessed to have this first sermon recorded for us in detail.  Peter mentions about "calling on the Name of the Lord" as Peter is actually quoting a prophecy from the prophet Joel regarding the last days:  

Acts 2:21 is quoting specifically from Joel 2:32. 

 Joel 2:32  "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of  Yahweh shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, and in the remnant whom Yahweh shall call." 

Exegetically, we can see that "Call on the Name of the Lord" means specifically "Call on the Name of Yahweh" here.  (Tomorrow, I will go into the detail of the technical aspect of this part of the exegesis.)

Joel 2:32 is a prophecy to be fulfilled in the last days which had already begun at Pentecost.  We are now living in the end times where we, too, experience the outpouring of the Spirit of God on all people as we wait for the day of Yahweh, and both Joel & Peter exhort everyone to call on the Name of Yahweh for our final salvation. 

Whether we will finally have salvation depends on our calling on Yahweh.

Thus, it is urgent for us to learn together to call on Yahweh in these last days.  This calling on the Name of Yahweh is not a mere verbal calling mouthing God's Name.  It is not a magic formula.  It is not even a verbal recognition of God's Name.  It is focusing on Yahweh, to call and live in the presence of Yahweh, delighting to do His will until we finally see Him face to face. 

To understand what this means will take many more hundreds of articles to share, which I will try to attempt in the coming topics.

Let's make a start to call on Yahweh in our prayers.

:)

Calling On Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name - 6

Subject: Habakkuk calls on Yahweh’s Everlasting Name

Today we are going to learn from another prophet who calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name.

Habakkuk 1:12 " Are you not from everlasting, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Yahweh, You have ordained them as a judgment, and You, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

Habakkuk is a prophet in the Bible.  There are only 3 chapters in Habakkuk and the entire book records the dialogue between Habbkuk and Yahweh God. Habbakuk wrestles with difficult issues, such as why do evil men prosper and go unpunished?

In Habakkuk 1:12, he began his second complaint by asking Yahweh God, "Are you not from everlasting, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One?"

Here, the prophet is not asking God for information expecting an answer. He is using a rhetorical question to affirm his conviction that Yahweh God is everlasting, indeed confirming his conviction to the everlasting nature of God.

In wrestling with difficult issues understanding God and His doings, Habbakuk calls upon Yahweh God in faith. You see this right at the beginning of his prayer "O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help and you will no hear?" (Hab 1:2)  Can you feel the depth of Habakkuk's cries and his longing for God's answer? Is God indifferent?  Is God inactive?  God then gives Habakkuk a reply.

Habakkuk trusts Yahweh God but it doesn't mean that he fully understands the answer God gives him. Aren't we also like this all the time?  Habakkuk knows God hates evil and therefore does not understand why God would use a nation even more wicked than Judah to punish Judah.  After all, Judah has her problems, but she is still better than the Babylonians.

And then when we get to Hab 1:12, you can tell that Habakkuk has tremendous faith in God. He hangs on to the everlasting nature of Yahweh God that what He says He will do, He will bring it to pass.  Israelites shall not die.  Habakkuk knows that God will not totally destroy Israel because of His covenantal promises to Israel. Even though the Israelites are exiled as captives to Babylon, God will bring them back to the land.

When you have time today, read Habakkuk.  In 3 short chapters, you hear him calling out to God's everlasting name 'Yahweh" 10 times.

Throughout the entire book, Habakkuk calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name by faith and expectantly waits for God's answer.  God replies him every time. The prophet searches and searches for a deeper understanding from God as he calls out to His Name. We need to do the same too.

The prophets of old do have a very deep relationship with God. When they call out to Yahweh God, they truly have faith in the eternal God who acts and responds to them.

When justice seems to be tarrying, we have the feeling that it will never come, and so faith diminishes.
Let us learn from Habakkuk.  Let us also have faith in our everlasting God who acted in history and continue to act now and forever.  Thus Habakkuk says in 2:4, "the righteous will live by faith."

Let us go forth in faith.

:)

Calling On Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name - 3

SUBJECT:  Abraham calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name

Abraham is a man of prayer.  

In the short narrative of Abraham’s life from Gen 12-25 (13 chapters), the author specifically mentions 3X about Abraham calling on the Name of God, Yahweh.  

Gen 12:8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to Yahweh and called upon the Name of Yahweh.


Gen 13:4  to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the Name of Yahweh.

Gen 21:33  Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and there he called on the Name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.

It’s not to say that Abraham only called on God’s Name three times in his life, but the repetitive mentioning of Abraham calling on God’s Name tells us that Abraham is a man in the habit of calling on Yahweh’s Name in prayer.  As Abraham continued to call on Yahweh's Name in prayer, his faith in Yahweh was developed and strengthened as the years went on.

No wonder Abraham is called the father of faith.  Faith indeed is strengthened in a close walk of calling on God’s Everlasting Name.  

Now, do you understand why you need to spend time in prayer?
Now, do you understand why you need to spend time to call on God's Name in prayer?

You need to have faith to call on God's Name, Yahweh.
You need to have faith to recognize the Everlasting Nature of God's Name. 


If you don't have faith, you will not spend time in prayer.

If you don't have faith, you will not bother to call on God's Name in prayer.

If you don't have faith, you will just treat God's Name like every other name and not see its EVERLASTING nature to call upon.

How did Abraham know God’s Name is Yahweh?

God had already revealed His Name to Abraham in Gen 15:3,  "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

God directly revealed Himself to Abraham, "I am Yahweh".  Since then, Abraham continued to respond to Yahweh God by faith. 

By faith, He came to know God as everlasting God. In Genesis, we know that God reveals His everlasting covenant, everlasting promise to Abraham.  Not only that, God also reveals His everlasting Name to Abraham so that Abraham calls on the Everlasting Name of Yahweh.

Abraham always trusted and called on God’s everlasting Name, Yahweh. That's how He became a man of great faith. 

We, too, need faith to call on God’s Name, to trust in His everlasting Name, Yahweh.