WRITE HIS NAME: SPELL IT CORRECTLY

WRITE HIS NAME: SPELL IT CORRECTLY

William Andrew Dillard
Parson to Person
More frequently recently I see in the writings of others a purposeful refusal to spell out correctly the name of God. This originates in Jewish quarters, but is often employed by Protestant writers and others who may simply think it pious to so reference the Almighty. Perhaps that needs to be rethought. So, think with me for a minute!
When Moses met God at the burning bush in the Sinai desert, he asked Him His name so he could reply to his brethren in Egypt. God told him, “ ‘eheyeh mah ‘eheyeh” (I shall become Whom I shall become). “Tell the children of Israel that ‘eheyeh (the becoming one) sent me to you.” Exo. 3:14. Then in Exodus 6:3, God told Moses that His name was “Yehovah” (Jehovah) a slight variation of the same term used in Exodus 3, and has the same meaning. Now here is the point in all of this.
Men far afield of a right relationship with God think themselves to be showing due reverence to deity by not calling or writing His name. Both Jew and some gentiles will write “G – d” instead of “God.” In dealing with the name “Jehovah,” they will refer to the tetragrammaton (four letters) of yodh, he, waw, he, (the Hebrew letters of the name) instead of writing it out or saying it, to show their piety (supposedly) toward God, when they are far removed from His teachings.
The names of living entities are important. Moses and the people of his day recognized this. He asked God for His name because he knew his brethren would ask that up front. So, names should be employed as nearly correct as possible. Although I respond to names I may not care for, and are not commonly used to address me, I still prefer to have my name written or spoken correctly. Most everyone does. How much better then is it that the name of God should be written or spoken as correctly as possible. He did not reveal Himself in the Old Testament by about sixteen names by which He met the needs of His people simply to have them all ignored. misspelled, or misused. In the New Testament, His name is Jesus. That name came from heaven’s messenger because He would save His people from their sins, Matthew 1:21. So when referencing the Creator/Redeemer, call Him by His Holy Name and get it right. It is God, Jehovah, Jesus. To try to show piety by the misuse of His name is to underscore hypocrisy while adding insult to the Deity being referenced.

232 – August 20 – This Day in Baptist History Past

Jehu L. Shuck entered heaven on August 20, 1863. His 51 years were fruitful as he saw many “firsts” in the ongoing of the gospel among the Chinese. Shuck was born in Alexandria, VA, on Sept. 4, 1812. He was educated at the VA Baptist Seminary. Shuck Married Henrietta Jeter and two days after their wedding in 1835, they were approved as missionaries by the Triennial Baptist Convention and sailed for China on Sept. 22, 1835. Mrs. Shuck has the honor of being the “first American evangelical woman missionary to go to China.” Shuck baptized his first convert in Portuguese Macao in 1837, who had been reading Christian literature. In 1840 their finances failed and they had to go to Hong Kong for safety under British protection. Shuck supported himself by editing a paper. In 1843 he organized a church with 26 members. However in 1844 Mrs. Shuck died and it was necessary for him to return to the US to make provisions for his children. A convert named Yong who had become a preacher came with him and spoke at the first anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1846 at Richmond, VA and the two of them stirred a great interest in missions. In 1847 Shuck returned to China to labor in Shanghai. Dr. and Mrs. James L. Sexton also responded as medical missionaries but their schooner to Shanghai capsized. Schuck was crushed but was successful in gaining the first permanent foothold into the interior of China. But as trials persisted and his second wife died, he returned to America wishing to be nearer to his children. He resigned from the foreign board and continued to work with the Chinese in California. Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 343-44. The post 232 – August 20 – This Day in Baptist History Past appeared first on The Trumpet Online .