How Do You View Jehovah’s Name?
THIS challenging question was raised for delegates at the “Kingdom Increase” District Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was occasioned by the release of a new brochure, The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever. Why was the question important?
Right from the earthly history of creation, the name Jehovah was used to refer to the only true God. (Genesis 2:4; 4:1) “Jehovah’s friend” Abraham used it freely. (James 2:23; Genesis 18:30-33) Moses learned that Jehovah is the Creator’s name “to time indefinite.” (Exodus 3:15) Jesus made God’s name manifest to his followers. (John 17:6) And his disciples traveled far and wide to help people ‘call on the name of Jehovah and be saved.’—Acts 2:21.
Others, though, dishonored the name. Israelites who failed to keep Jehovah’s law profaned his name. (Leviticus 18:21; 19:12) Those Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai who used God’s name in connection with their worship of the golden calf brought reproach upon his name. (Exodus 32:4, 6) Similarly, the Jews who later superstitiously refused to pronounce God’s name dishonored it, as did the Jewish mystics who viewed it as a magic symbol.
Uninformed professing Christians, too, covered over the name when, like the Jews, they ceased to use it and even removed it from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. And this, in turn, has led to a modern abuse. People today ignore God’s name, viewing it as unimportant or nonessential for worship.
Keep Honoring the Name
In fact, only Jehovah’s Witnesses today follow the example of Jesus’ early disciples and help people worldwide to ‘call on the name of Jehovah and be saved.’ They alone can truly be called “a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) Is it possible, though, that we, too, may brush aside Jehovah’s name?
Well, if we break Jehovah’s laws and practice unrighteousness, we are in fact dishonoring his name. (2 Timothy 2:19) And if we use Jehovah’s name in our worship, but our actions show that our real hope for the future is based on material things or something similar, we are not very different from those ancient Israelites who used Jehovah’s name but actually were worshiping a golden calf. Moreover, Jehovah’s name is not a charm. If we were to display it as the Tetragrammaton or in modern spelling in our house or on our vehicle in the hope that it would protect us or bring us “good luck,” how would we differ from those superstitious Jews who viewed it as a magic symbol?—Exodus 20:7.
Thus, how we view God’s name is important. The name Jehovah is God’s eternal memorial. (Exodus 3:15) It represents his changeless qualities and purposes. (Deuteronomy 32:3-43) Jehovah richly blesses those who fear him and honor his name. (Malachi 3:16) The new brochure, The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever, with its in-depth discussion of the divine name, its meaning and correct use, will surely help thousands more to honor the name of their Creator, Jehovah.—Revelation 4:11.