Waking Up to Grace
Waking Up to Grace is a Bible-centered podcast for anyone who is weary of religious performance and ready to rest confidently in Christ.
Hosted by Lenny, each episode brings honest conversations and a fresh look at Scripture to questions about grace, faith, the New Covenant, identity in Christ, forgiveness, assurance, the church, and eternal life. The goal is not to give you another religious checklist, but to help you see the finished work of Jesus more clearly and reconsider long-held traditions in the light of Scripture.
Whether you are questioning what you have been taught, recovering from legalism, or simply longing to know Christ more deeply, join us as we wake up to grace—one conversation at a time.
Find companion Bible studies and more at WakingUpToGrace.com
Waking Up to Grace
Is Jesus Yahweh? | Episode 40
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Is Jesus Yahweh? In this episode, we explore what Scripture reveals about the names Yahweh and Yeshua, beginning with Paul’s words “for the sake of his name” in Romans 1.
We look at the meaning of Yeshua’s Hebrew name, Paul’s use of Joel in Romans 10, and Philippians 2, where Jesus Christ is confessed as Lord. Following those connections leads to the central conclusion of this study: Yeshua is Yahweh in the flesh.
We also look at the divine name YHWH, why English Bibles commonly display it as LORD, and the meaning carried by several Hebrew names in Scripture. This is not about creating a new rule for which name Christians must use. It is about seeing what these names reveal and why the name Yahweh matters when we speak about the identity of Christ.
Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/040-does-god-have-a-name-romans-1-1-7/
Exploring the Name of Yeshua
Speaker 1Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast , where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ . Tune in to the Waking Up to Grace podcast on every major platform . You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom . And now here's Lenny .
LennyWelcome back to the podcast , everyone .
MelissaHey , welcome back .
LennyThis week we're going to be talking about the name of the Lord For his name's sake , and there is actually a lot to talk about when it comes to the name of our Lord , and we're just going to be scratching the surface and I think you're going to be blown away at some of this stuff .
MelissaYeah , you and I were saying how we couldn't believe how much there was .
LennyWe're continuing our study on Romans Verses . We're looking at is Romans , chapter 1 , verses 1 through 7 . Would you like to read those , melissa ?
MelissaI would thank you , Paul , a servant of Christ . Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God , which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his Son , who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness , by his resurrection from the dead . Jesus Christ , our Lord , through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith , for the sake of his name , among all the nations , including you , who are called to belong to Jesus Christ , to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints . Grace to you and peace from God , our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ .
LennyPaul was bringing about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name , and he's referring to Christ Yeshua . The obedience of faith was for the sake of his name , so the word name here is the Greek word anima . It means name , rank or personality . It could mean any three of those things , or maybe all of them . It depends on the context . And so , regarding the context of what we're reading in the name , I wanted to point out that the name itself contains context . The name itself contains personality . It contains ranking . So first we're going to talk about the name Jesus . When I say the name Jesus , what I actually mean is we're going to end up talking about his Hebrew name , yeshua . We'll start out with Matthew , chapter 1 , verse 21 . You want to read that , melissa ?
MelissaShe will bear a son , and you shall call his name Yeshua , for he will save his people from their sins .
LennySo we didn't read the entire context , but if you read Matthew 1 , 1 through 16 , we're told that Yeshua was born Hebrew . He was from Hebrew descent through the tribe of Judah and he was given a Hebrew name by his Hebrew parents .
MelissaYes .
LennyAnd Yeshua the name actually means in Hebrew , because Hebrew names have meaning Yeshua means Yahweh's salvation , salvation from Yahweh .
MelissaPretty fitting for Christ .
LennySo that meaning came with his name . His Hebrew names meant something , so his name actually had a meaning .
MelissaYeah , makes you wonder why they changed it .
LennyWell , yeshua is a transliteration of his Hebrew name into English . So if we were to take his Hebrew name and just put it into English directly like a transliteration would be just like literally changing it from Hebrew to English . It would be Yeshua or something along those lines . Maybe some people say it a little bit different Yeshua , yeshua . You know it could be a slightly different version of it , but it's going to be far closer than Jesus , right ? Yeah , the apostles would have known him by his Hebrew name . So when we say Yeshua , we're essentially saying his Hebrew name .
MelissaOkay .
LennySo transliteration is basically a conversion from one text to another . Transliteration from hebrew to english that means that's his name . So in greek , which would be the original greek text of our new testament , it was transliterated to yesus . Fascinating , that would have been the greek way of saying Yeshua , yesus . We're not Greek , so we probably would not say that Wouldn't make a lot of sense if you're not Greek , to say Yesus Agreed . And then the word Yesus didn't even exist in Greek until they translated the name Yeshua into Greek . That would have been , from what I understand , the first appearance of that word in Greek , because it was a Hebrew name . In the 17th century a J replaced the I to make Jesus . So in the King James Version if you have the 1611 King James Version it says Jesus A little bit . After that , at some point they put a J in front of instead of an I . They actually just changed the word . So if you were to go back 400 years , which isn't really that long- it really isn't in the scope of history .
Lenny400 years ago , you would have said I love jesus and people would have been looking at you like what are you talking about ? That's crazy and now we look at people like they're crazy . If you were to say yesus , people would be looking at you like what are you spanish ?
Lennybecause it sounds like jesus exactly which is , you know , very much like the sound of jesus , except they put a j in front of it . Wow , so jesus isn't spanish no , he's Hebrew . And Yeshua sounds a lot more fitting when you're talking about a Hebrew guy . Sure does . If I was Greek , maybe it would make more sense saying Jesus . It's just fascinating because we're kind of blending Spanish Jesus with a Greek Jesus with a J in front of it . I mean it's kind of mind-blowing .
MelissaWow , I never would have imagined that this wasn't his Hebrew name . I remember the first time we heard it . The first time we heard somebody say Yeshua , it scared me a little bit , thinking they were talking about a different God . At first we started out liking their teaching . So we're listening a little more . Then they said they called jesus yeshua and it was like a red flag in my mind yeah but we had to , of course , look for ourselves . See why is he doing this ?
Lennyyeah , a friend of mine spoke that way . The friend of mine had reached out . He was a new friend at the time and he was using words like that Yahweh and Yeshua . At first , like you said , I was like is this guy into some kind of weird religion ? Yeah , what is this ? But I knew from the context what he was talking about and it didn't cause me to stumble much because I just became interested in it and wanted to look it up eventually . And when I looked it up , I was like hmm , so for some people , just using the word is going to cause some interest . Sometimes maybe it won't . We're in a society that knows him by Jesus . You know Jesus is our Lord . Right , that's fine . I'm not going to lose sleep over that .
MelissaNo .
LennyBut I get satisfaction knowing that he has a meaningful name . Yes , that just means something to me . You can't really unsee it . Yeah , so it's now . Every time you say Jesus , you're thinking Yeshua . Even if you say it , I'm not mad at myself , I'm just like whatever . You know , I don't want to cause anybody to stumble . It's also interesting to learn .
MelissaYeah .
LennyI did find on Reddit that people get pretty upset about it , though I was shocked . I was like man . I know that I've been persecuted for grace . I've been persecuted for preterism , you name it . People are just attacking you for this and that , but I didn't expect people to be fighting about that .
MelissaThey did not like you saying Yeshua .
LennyI didn't say it in this case . They did not like you saying Yeshua . I didn't say it in this case . I was watching other people being nice , actually just saying this is what I call them because this is his Hebrew name . And oh , they just let him have it . That's the way forums are . That's just the way it is . If you don't want to have people yelling at you , don't chime in in a comment section on a forum somewhere .
MelissaThat's just incredible how today is the reverse of 400 years ago yeah where , if you say yeshua today , people look at you cross-eyed and yeah , wonder if you're like a jehovah's witness I'm gonna say the reformers .
LennyYou know , like luther was mostly latin , so he probably would have known him as yesus hmm , but jesus , jesus , you know , people enunciate as jesus , nobody would have known what you're talking about I never would have imagined I might have guessed they'd be like where the heck did you come up with that ? Let's talk about how yeshua relates to yahweh yes , let's see if we can make some connections between those names .
LennyWe already know yeshua means yahweh's salvation names . We already know Yeshua means Yahweh's salvation , or salvation from Yahweh . I'm going to make a bold statement here . I'm going to say Yeshua is Yahweh . You sure that's pretty bold . And I'm going to prove that the scriptures teach us the same thing .
MelissaLet's have it , so we go ahead and read Romans 10 13 .
LennyAnd these are all from the ESV Bible translation .
MelissaFor everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved .
LennyThe word Lord here would have been pulled from Joel , from the Old Testament . This is what Paul is quoting and if you read Joel , yahweh was the word Lord . So when Paul says this , he's quoting Joel . So what we could actually say this passage says is everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved . And then another place .
MelissaPaul writes and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord , to the glory of God the Father .
LennyAnd that was Philippians 2.11 . And we could better translate this passage to say Christ Yeshua is Yahweh when we follow the logic and every tongue confess that Christ Yeshua is Yahweh . To the glory of God , the Father , who is Yahweh ?
MelissaWell , I already want to start calling him Yeshua .
LennyIt's pretty interesting , isn't it ?
MelissaRight there , it's just like whoa .
LennyChrist Yeshua is Yahweh Paul's telling us this in Philippians .
MelissaIf we study the language , he deserves to be called by the name the Father gave him .
LennyYeah , it's pretty cool . In light of the Trinity , this is a mystery . Our triune God is three persons and one being Father , son , spirit . Yeshua was Yahweh in the flesh .
MelissaYes . Then we read in Philippians 2.9 , Therefore , god has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name .
LennySo Yahweh has exalted Yeshua and bestowed on him the name that is above every name . And what name is that ?
MelissaIt's not Jesus , it's Yeshua .
LennyActually the name above every name is Yahweh . Oh , yes , I would have said the same thing . I was kind of a trick question . Oh , you did trick me .
MelissaIt was a little tricky there .
LennyBut no , what he's actually saying is that Yahweh has highly exalted him and bestowed on Yeshua the name that is above every name .
MelissaWhich is , yahweh , which is ?
LennyYahweh . Yeshua was the God of Israel . He was Yahweh is what this is saying . And on top of that , the Tetragrammaton is used in our Bible almost 7,000 times . It's YHWH , yad , he , vav , he . That Tetragrammaton is actually found in Yeshua's name . Amazing , if you look at Yeshua's name in Hebrew , the Tetragrammaton is in his name . So that's why he can say that he's bestowed upon him the name that is above every name , because he literally did bestow his name upon him , but he also bestowed his character upon him . He also displayed his standing upon him as Lord . All these things . When we go back to that definition , anima , it was name , rank or personality . All of those things were given to Christ by Yahweh .
MelissaI see where you went with that .
LennySo God's name is actually in his name , Like I said earlier , the Tetragrammaton YH-H-W-H . It's used almost 7,000 times in our scripture , so don't you think that maybe God wants us to know his name ?
MelissaUh yeah .
LennyKind of seems that way .
MelissaYeah .
LennyAnd we'll get more into that in a little bit .
MelissaI just gotta say I'm so fired up at this . We just have to call him by his given name . We just have to . We have to bring it back .
LennyI think we should make a commandment out of it that people have to follow to keep fellowship . If you want to be a disciple and prove that you love God , you will use his real name . Just kidding guys .
MelissaNow you made something crusty out of that .
LennySomebody's probably going to record that and publish it .
MelissaWaking up to grace said this . I'm just saying I think it's worth the struggle to bring that name back .
LennyYeah , yeah , I agree , john . Chapter 1 , 1 through 4 .
MelissaIn the beginning was the Word In the Word was with God and the Word was God . He was in the beginning with God . All things were made through him and without him was not anything made . That was made In him was life , and the life was the light of men .
LennyI think that sums up everything we talked about pretty well .
MelissaI would have to agree .
LennyI think it's also worth mentioning Jesus's last name . Do you know what Jesus's last name is ? Melissa ?
MelissaWell , of course everybody does , don't they ? It's Christ .
LennyNice .
MelissaMr Jesus Christ .
LennyYeah , it's funny because I think a lot of , actually a lot of people would answer it that way I've heard it said yeah so I think it's worth mentioning that christ is not in fact , jesus's last name . Christ actually comes from the greek word christos , or you have to do like a some kind of like , almost like a tongue roll christos , christos I can't do it .
MelissaChristos did I do it don't , and it means anointed .
LennyAnointed is a term applied to the priests who are anointed with the holy oil , particularly the high priests , and it's written in Hebrews that Yeshua is our great high priest , surpassing all by his resurrection . So next we'll talk a little bit about Yahweh . It's my understanding that the Tetragrammaton is often displayed as YHVH . I've seen it that way , written that way and said that way . I'm like what are they talking about ? It's YHWH . It gets you confused . You're like what did I get it wrong ? I see something wrong . I write it wrong . In English it's a W because the English adds the W sound evidently Yod-hey , vav-hey . I mean you look at that vav , it actually kind of looks like a W . It's either a V or a W , so both are true . It's just a translational thing .
MelissaSo you can write either one and you're correct .
LennyIf you're correct . If you're English , though , you would write the W Otherwise you'll be out of fellowship .
MelissaThat's right . We talked about that .
LennySo English .
Unveiling the Names of Yahweh
LennySo in the first temple period , at least until the Babylon exile in 586 BC , the divine name Yahweh was regularly pronounced in daily life . But by the 3rd century BC before the cross , although the Tetragrammaton was pronounced by priests in certain temple liturgies , jews avoided its use , employing instead many other substitutes . When reading or reciting scripture , the custom was to substitute Adonai , which means Lord . It's like a general term , it's like saying God . This would have been before the ministry of Christ Yeshua and after the destruction of the first temple that they began adopting this concept of not using God's holy name . This concept was not taught by the Lord , it was error . Our English translations have followed this train of thought and covered it up . Sadly , in most English versions Lord is spelled with four capital letters when it stands for the name of Yahweh . This makes it at least easy to recognize . They didn't altogether discard it , but the reader has to read the preface or the preface to pay attention .
MelissaBe paying attention to the capital letters , the italics .
LennyIt's actually interesting reading the little preface part . I don't know how you say that in English preface or preface .
MelissaI've always called it preface , but you sound really fancy when you say preface .
LennyCase in point , God has a name and it's not God . So when you say OMG , are you actually using God's name in vain ? Well , technically , you might still be in fellowship , guys .
MelissaYou're really going with this one .
LennyAgain , I think it's so important that we use his actual name , yahweh , because that would differentiate us from all the other religions that have a god well , there's all the other religions that have gods , yeah , the general god , the universe , all these things that people make up , but then there was also the divine council the gods that were under god , and that's a topic that we'll be covering eventually because it's very interesting .
LennyBut yes yahweh needed to be known as the god of all the gods , the god that created those gods yahweh is the greatest god yeah , and that's a topic that's going to blow a lot of people's minds . Just what are you guys ?
Melissasome weird religion I know again , it's all in scripture and we'll show you . But I know I've met a lot of people over the years . It surprised me when it first happened . I was very shaken up by it , but it's happened a lot more since then that I've met with somebody and I've started talking about God , and I think that they're talking about the same God as me and then all of a sudden they say something where it's revealed that they're talking about buddha or the universe , and you're not at all on the same page .
MelissaSo , yeah , if we could just clear up that we're talking about the god , that's the greatest god , right right off the bat , then we know where somebody's at you could actually use god's name and it would mean something .
LennyThen , when you you say God , as you just pointed out , it doesn't mean anything .
MelissaIt doesn't mean anything . It means nothing . Oh , they believe in God .
LennySo what .
MelissaThey just mean right , they literally just believe in the universe so that there's some kind of creator . It has nothing to do with Christianity .
LennyBut if people were saying Yahweh , now you know they're at least either Jewish or Christian , right , you're getting closer Right , so I'll let you read this next part , if you can handle it . It's a bit confusing , but listen carefully . This is actually pretty cool .
MelissaI'm up for the challenge . Until the early Middle Ages , hebrew was written without vowels . Hebrew was written without vowels by the 6th century AD . A system of vowel signs was developed by Jewish scholars known as the Masorites . They superimposed the vowel signs of the word Adonai upon the four consonants of God's name to help the reader . Help the reader in pronunciation . In AD 1518 , galatnus , not realizing that the Masorites had placed the vowel signs of another word with the consonants YHWH , fused the vowels of Adonai with the consonants of the divine name and thus gave the church Jehovah a word which has no meaning in Hebrew .
LennySo essentially Jehovah . The word Jehovah is sort of a man-made word salad . It's not even a real word . What Somebody's homebrew Wow .
MelissaI always wondered where's home brew . Wow , I always wondered where that came from .
LennyYeah .
MelissaNow , I know .
LennyYeah , so we can just discard that when we see it .
MelissaI don't even like salad , so that goes fine with me .
LennyIn the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint , the word Kyrios , which means Lord again kind of a general meaning it could have is used to represent the personal name of the God of Israel , yahweh . This fact brings up all kinds of question , debate , speculation and even false doctrines . But as we have seen so far , yahweh is found in our New Testament based on context , based on quotations from the Old Testament and based on the fact that Yahweh is in the name of Yeshua . If we look at context , we know that the apostles recognized their Lord as Yahweh . Jesus is not the real name of our Lord in English or in any language that I am aware of . That should at least raise an eyebrow . Hebrew names had meaning , I am aware of . That should at least raise an eyebrow . Hebrew names had meaning and , as we read the definition of name earlier , the name , rank and personality of our Lord is all found in his Hebrew name . We don't find it anywhere in the word Jesus . That is why I enjoy calling Yahweh by his real Hebrew name and Yeshua .
LennyI often use Yeshua . It means something to me . I'm not afraid to be odd in this way . I don't stress about it though . I just like to do it . Sometimes I still say Jesus .
LennySometimes it just kind of catches on you because you read in the scripture and you start saying it that way . Or you talk with certain people in a group that are saying it and you start saying it that way . It's fine . Our society calls him Jesus . That may not change anytime soon . We're Gentiles , so maybe that's just what happens when Gentiles do what they do . It's okay . I'm not going to attack people for saying it . You don't have to feel bad for saying it . It's hard to know exactly how to handle this error in our society today . It's certainly not the most important aspect of our faith , but it is one that deserves a lot of attention . As I was saying , there's actually an incredible amount to say on this topic alone . But just in names in scripture altogether , when you get into Elohim and the words that are used for the sons of God and it's really fun stuff to look at it goes really deep .
MelissaIt sure does , and I just wanted to say one thing on the note of it being hard to know how to handle what to call Christ . I think I have the answer . Pray about it .
LennyVery good .
MelissaThat's what I've been doing . I know you started earlier than me with the name .
LennyThat's so cool to be able to say that , isn't it ?
MelissaIt's always the answer , yeah .
LennyHey , I think I got an answer to that problem .
MelissaIt's so true . Pray about it , that's right .
LennyYou got me again .
MelissaYou started calling Christ Yeshua before I did and it sounded funny to me at first , but I started getting used to it .
LennyI saw you giggling at me , smirking .
MelissaBut I started getting used to it and the more I learned about that meaning , the more it weighed on me . So I'm taking the slow and steady approach . Yeah , slowly transitioning over yeah , because I do think that he's worthy of his God-given name . Yeah , slowly transitioning over yeah , because I do think that he's worthy of his God given name .
LennyYeah , I agree , amen to that .
MelissaSo that's , my soapbox .
LennySo I got some interesting information about names regarding some of the disciples . So I wanted to look at some of these disciples names and share them with you guys after I saw this , because I was shocked to learn that many of them also had Yahweh in their names . It might help to explain how Christ Yeshua was able to blend in while having such a powerful name in his culture , because you think , with all this stuff in his name , wouldn't everybody have just been like what's your deal , dude ? Right Before he declared himself the son of God , he practically was named that already .
LennyYeah , I mean , come come on , it's kind of crazy it's not a coincidence I mean the gospel's , all , all throughout the scriptures and the people that were supposed to have seen it . Very few of them saw it . There's only a remnant god had to open their eyes but that's by design yeah , you know , when I was thinking about yahweh yeshua , I remember talking to you in the kitchen about it the one day I'm just like , well , what about these other names ?
MelissaMatthew , mark yeah .
LennyI got to look into this and just see what some of those , some of the disciples at least a handful of them , all the disciples had names that meant something , but I picked out ones that I found that like wow , this had to do with Yahweh . This is crazy . So first one on the list , you can guess Peter Pebble . A lot of people think he's the rock . Sorry , peter . Peter's original name was Simon , but he was given the additional name Cephas or Peter by Yeshua . The name Cephas with a Greek name , petros , both means stone or I've also heard , pebble . So Yeshua pretty much said you are a stone or pebble , and on this rock meaning himself , I will build my church . That statement's going to upset some people when you say that , though , especially Catholics .
MelissaBut really for Christ to have said that to Peter . I think that that it's actually a very honorable thing . We giggle , but very honorable because it's like he's mentioning the first stone that's going to be in the church , which is him .
LennyHe's essentially saying that you are the same as me in a way . I'm just the big rock and you're the stone . We're all stones . None of us are any different . We would be stones and pebbles compared to Christ . So it's no offense to Peter . He's just not what a lot of people made him out to be . But he was an apostle , he was a chosen messenger .
LennyAbsolutely the church was built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles . Christ was the rock . He's what they prophesied about . He's what they were sent forth with the message of . He's the cornerstone . Yeah , absolutely so . Simon is actually Shimon . This sounds oddly close to a sound Michael Jackson used in some of his songs . Both Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot come from the Hebrew name Shimon , and that means he has heard . In Jewish culture , the one who had heard was understood to be God , so God was the one who heard , and their name meant he has heard .
MelissaThe one who has heard was understood to be God , so he is God .
LennyYeah , yeah , yeah , exactly so .
MelissaGod has heard Wow .
LennyAnd I was reading that it could have been something to do with a difficult pregnancy when they were like oh , he's been born , god has heard . Wow . And I was reading that it could have been something to do with a difficult pregnancy . Oh , where they were like oh , he's been born . God has heard . Okay yeah , something along those lines .
MelissaGod heard their prayers .
LennyYeah , and then we have Jacobas the disciple . We call James Jacobas after the patriarch Jacob . The meaning of the name is heel , or he who supplants . It seems somewhat negative , but the name was evidently popular due to it being the name of the famous grandson of Abraham .
MelissaAbsolutely , that makes sense .
LennyYeah , then you have Ioannes .
MelissaThese names are way cooler .
LennyThey're cool names . The name John that we read in the Gospels is an English approximation of the Hebrew name Yoanes , and Yoanes means Yahweh is gracious .
MelissaOkay .
LennyMatthias , the tax collector turned disciple that we know as Matthew . His Hebrew name is Matthias , meaning gift of Yahweh .
MelissaIncredible .
LennyThat's pretty cool . The Hebrew names had a lot of meaning .
MelissaWhen they say they had meaning . Yeah , when you go back and look you're like yep , they definitely had meaning .
LennyYeah .
MelissaNot at all like today .
LennyBut out of all these cool names , what could top Yahweh's salvation , or salvation from Yahweh ? That's what Christ was , that's who Christ was . His name represented him and Yahweh was in his name . How cool is that ? Yahweh's salvation ? So next time you pray in the name of the Lord , you can be thinking about this . It's pretty cool stuff .
MelissaIt's really cool . I just get so excited about all there is to learn in scripture . It just goes deeper and deeper and deeper . It's just it gets you fired up . You could definitely wake up to grace every single day for the rest of your life .
LennyI agree .
MelissaI think we should do that High five to that In the name of the .
LennyLord , in the name of the Lord . That's what we got for this week , guys . I'm looking forward to seeing you next week for some more . We're already in the works of our next topic . We know what it is , but we're not telling .
Speaker 1So we'll see you next week . Bye-bye , have a good day out there , guys . Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to Grace podcast brought to you by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ . If you enjoyed today's episode , we would love to hear from you . You can send encouragement our way right from our episodes and transcripts page or reach Lenny privately from the contact form at wakinguptogracecom .