Didn't God tell Moses to tell the Israelites, "I AM" sent me -- meaning that attaching a name to God was a method of controlling the Almighty? Do JWs wish to control God?
2007-02-09 03:40:15 · 8 answers · asked by ccrider 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Jehovah's Witnesses value the name of God because Jesus taught them to do so.
(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known
(Deuteronomy 32:3) For I shall declare the name of Jehovah.
(Matthew 6:9) “You must pray, then, this way: “‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.
(John 17:6) [Jesus said in prayer] I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.
It is sad that generations of bible translations have stubbornly refused to include any form of the divine name in the SEVEN THOUSANDS places where it appears in the original-language manuscripts of the bible, except in its shortened form as part of the exclamation "Hallelu-JAH" (which literally means "praise Jah" or "praise Jehovah").
Ironically, the King James Version is better than most in that it has the personal name of God four times (eg Psalm 83:18). The KJV was released in 1611, about 250 years before the modern history of Jehovah's Witnesses; it is estimated that nearly a billion copies of KJV have been printed over the centuries. While Jehovah's Witnesses are happy to be among those who distribute this translation, they can hardly be said to "control" it.
But what did God really say to Moses about his name? Note that passage again, but this time from a translation which restores the divine name whereever it appears in the original language manuscripts... Those manuscripts show that God repeated his actual personal name to Moses along with its meaning (more accurately translated from Hebrew as "I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be").
(Exodus 3:14-16) God said to Moses: “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.” And he added: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to you.’” 15 Then God said once more to Moses: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation. 16 You go, and you must gather the older men of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘Jehovah the God of your forefathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Jehovah's Witnesses feel honored to carry the divine name, and disappointed that so many ostensible Christians continue to work against that name.
2007-02-09 05:32:51 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Actually a better translation is "I shall prove to be" or "He causes to become" at Ex 3:14.
But even after saying this, read Ex 3:15, He he says Jehovah is his name as a memorial.
If Jehovah tells us to use his name, who are we to ignore that command?
Your meaning of the Ex 3:14 is not an accurate understanding of what Jehovah actually said.
2007-02-09 10:43:02 · answer #2 · answered by TeeM 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
read Isaiah 43 verse 10. and 11 also ps 83 verse 18. anyone can have a person relation with Jehovah if they use his name. God is a title. how come the son has a name and not the Father? you have a name and so do your children. God has a name also and it is Jehovah. he wants us to call him by name
2007-02-09 03:48:32 · answer #3 · answered by lover of Jehovah and Jesus 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Jehovah Definition: The personal name of the only true God. His own self-designation. Jehovah is the Creator and, rightfully, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. “Jehovah” is translated from the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, ????, which means “He Causes to Become.” These four Hebrew letters are represented in many languages by the letters JHVH or YHWH.
(Je·ho´vah) [the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Heb. verb ha·wah´ (become); meaning “He Causes to Become”].
The personal name of God. (Isa 42:8; 54:5) Though Scripturally designated by such descriptive titles as “God,” “Sovereign Lord,” “Creator,” “Father,” “the Almighty,” and “the Most High,” his personality and attributes—who and what he is—are fully summed up and expressed only in this personal name.—Ps 83:18.
Importance of the Name. Many modern scholars and Bible translators advocate following the tradition of eliminating the distinctive name of God. They not only claim that its uncertain pronunciation justifies such a course but also hold that the supremacy and uniqueness of the true God make unnecessary his having a particular name. Such a view receives no support from the inspired Scriptures, either those of pre-Christian times or those of the Christian Greek Scriptures.
The Tetragrammaton occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text printed in Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. In the Hebrew Scriptures the New World Translation contains the divine name 6,973 times, because the translators took into account, among other things, the fact that in some places the scribes had replaced the divine name with ´Adho·nai´ or ´Elo·him´. (See NW appendix, pp. 1561, 1562.) The very frequency of the appearance of the name attests to its importance to the Bible’s Author, whose name it is. Its use throughout the Scriptures far outnumbers that of any of the titles, such as “Sovereign Lord” or “God,” applied to him.
Noteworthy, also, is the importance given to names themselves in the Hebrew Scriptures and among Semitic peoples. Professor G. T. Manley points out: “A study of the word ‘name’ in the O[ld] T[estament] reveals how much it means in Hebrew. The name is no mere label, but is significant of the real personality of him to whom it belongs. . . . When a person puts his ‘name’ upon a thing or another person the latter comes under his influence and protection.”—New Bible Dictionary, edited by J. D. Douglas, 1985, p. 430; compare Everyman’s Talmud, by A. Cohen, 1949, p. 24; Ge 27:36; 1Sa 25:25; Ps 20:1; Pr 22:1.
That this meant no change in God’s name, but only an additional insight into God’s personality, is seen from his further words: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation.” (Ex 3:15; compare Ps 135:13; Ho 12:5.) The name Jehovah comes from the Hebrew verb ha·wah´, “become,” and actually means “He Causes to Become.” This reveals Jehovah as the One who, with progressive action, causes himself to become the Fulfiller of promises. Thus he always brings his purposes to realization. Only the true God could rightly and authentically bear such a name.
2007-02-09 04:16:57 · answer #4 · answered by amorromantico02 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
What odd reasoning.
In the Lord's prayer, what is item #1?
Making known God's name was a priority for Jesus.
In prayer, he said:
“I have made your name manifest...." John 17:6
What is the theme of the book of Ezekial?
"...and YOU people will have to know that I am the Lord."
Your reference to "I Am" is interesting in that you give the definition of God's name.
How does one say the word of which that is the definition?
Jahweh!
God's name is importent to Him and should be to his worshippers.
2007-02-09 03:56:12 · answer #5 · answered by Uncle Thesis 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/11/robertson_says.html
2007-02-09 08:45:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They use this as as "gimmick" to try and WOW the not to bright and to impress them that the CULT really has some unique information and knowledge.
The total purpose of JW is to Misinform people about THE GOD/JESUS......
2007-02-09 03:45:57 · answer #7 · answered by whynotaskdon 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No they control the thinking of each other through their false doctrine and unholy translation.
2007-02-09 03:43:03 · answer #8 · answered by Tribble Macher 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋