The Heartbeat of Yahveh
“ He wants to be our God and for us to be His people—to have a closeness and an intimacy that surpasses the acquaintance level we so often have with Him””
How much intimacy do you desire to have with your Creator and Savior? You can remain where you are by calling Him God or Lord; or you can draw closer to Him and hear His voice speak His name, YAHveh, to your heart, proclaiming as He did to Moses: “This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Ex 3:15). He wants to be our God and for us to be His people—to have a closeness and an intimacy that surpasses the acquaintance level we so often have with Him. Would you call your spouse, your best friend, your brother, or your sister “Madam,” “Mister,” “Sir,” “Lord,” or perhaps “Master”? Probably not. Such titles would create a distance between you and that loved one. So it is between you and YAHveh when you don’t address Him by His most holy name. He longs to draw you so close that even His heartbeat is audible to you.
YAHveh has redeemed us out of Satan’s bondage to be His people, His treasured possession, through the blood of His Son, YAHshua. He wants us to know Him intimately so that the time we spend in His presence will bear eternal fruit. He calls to you through His love letter—His matchless Word—emphasizing with passion to a people who have ears to hear Him say: “My name is YAHveh. Draw near to Me; hear My name, speak My name, praise My name, honor My name; then I will most certainly come and bless you” (author’s paraphrase).
As an ambassador of the Almighty, I urge you to hear His plea. He is beseeching you, His beloved, to call Him by His name. He desires such closeness and intimacy that His name, YAHveh, flowing from your lips, will bring forth the outpouring of His promised blessings and glory upon you.
“Oh, how YAHveh longs for a people who are intimate with Him; a people who willingly leave the distractions of this world to go into His chambers to love and worship Him—a honeymoon with no end!””
As He pours out that fragrant oil of His love through His name, let us sing along with Solomon: “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. …” (SS 1:3-4) Oh, how YAHveh longs for a people who are intimate with Him; a people who willingly leave the distractions of this world to go into His chambers to love and worship Him—a honeymoon with no end! But because of YAHveh’s infinite love, we have the requirement of obedience to His words, His commandments. We have been redeemed as His “treasured possession” (Dt 26:18), His “royal PRIESTHOOD, … A PEOPLE FOR YAHveh’s OWN POSSESSION, …” (1Pe 2:9). So many professing believers have been seduced or distracted by the cares of this world and religious agendas, like an adulterous wife who never wholeheartedly loved her husband. Yet out of His compassion and forgiveness, His love is extended through the words of Hosea, speaking first to Israel and now to us:
“‘Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness, And speak kindly to her. … And it will come about in that day,’ declares YAHveh, ‘That you will call Me Ishi [my Husband] and will no longer call me Baali [my Master, Lord, or my Baal]. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be mentioned by their names no more. … And I will betroth you to Me forever; … and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know YAHveh.’” (Hos 2:14-20)
The Forgetting of His Name
The Almighty admonishes His people: “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it” (Dt 12:32).
In Proverbs, in keeping with the initial question posed in this book, “What is His name and the name of His Son?” we see this warning: “Do not add to His words, Lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar” (Pr 30:6). And Jeremiah warns:
“To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed, And they cannot listen. Behold the word of YAHveh has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.” (Jer 6:10)
This teaching may seem like a combination of mother’s milk followed by castor oil; however, against the backdrop of His love, He wants us to know His displeasure and grief over the forgetting of His name. Jeremiah the prophet cries out: “‘Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?’ sayeth YAHveh. … How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal [Lord].” (Jer 23:24-27 KJV — emphasis added)
According to a footnote for Hosea 2:13, Baal means “lord” or “owner” and was often used as a general term for “God.”1 All of us have worshiped the Father and the Son by the common title, Lord, but this does NOT imply that we as believers have been worshiping pagan idols; rather, He is revealing His name and removing titles which would hinder the intimacy He so longs to have with us.
EliYAH—My ELOHIM (God) Is YAH
The prophet Elijah was sent to Israel during the time of his nation’s great apostasy. Israel had rebelled and intermingled with the surrounding Gentile nations. Consequentially, the pure worship of YAHveh was compromised and tainted. Israel mixed the holy worship of YAHveh with the profane worship of the pagan god Baal (see 1Ki 18).2
Elijah was sent to turn the people back to the pure worship of YAHveh and reverence for His holy name. The name Elijah in Hebrew is EliYAH, which means “my Elohim is YAH.”3
John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of EliYAH (Elijah) to once again turn Israel back to YAH (Lk 1:17 and Mt 11:14). After John’s death, Messiah proclaimed: “… ‘Elijah [EliYAH] is coming and will restore all things; …’” (Mt 17:11).
Malachi wrote: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah [EliYAH] the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of YAHveh” (Mal 4:5).
We are approaching the day when YAHveh will return and pour out His righteous judgments on those who have veered from His plumb line of truth. In His mercy, He again sends the spirit of EliYAH, who is calling: “… ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF YAHVEH, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. … AND THE CROOKED [including man’s religious systems] SHALL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’” (Lk 3:4-6)
The EliYAH spirit is beckoning a holy remnant to wholeheartedly embrace YAHveh and stop wavering between religion and righteousness. EliYAH says: “… ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If YAHveh is God, follow Him;’ …” (1Ki 18:21).
Over the centuries, multitudes of believers have been the recipients of many doctrines and traditions of men. We simply did not know this hidden vital truth, as it has been buried under the religious doctrines with which we have been involved. However, there is hope! “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, YAHveh is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent” (Ac 17:30). At the close of the age there is a remnant who is waking up, having the light of revelation shine upon their understanding, showing them what Jeremiah prophesied. “The Gentiles shall come to You From the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit.” (Jer 16:19)
The heart cry of the Almighty has never changed; it continues resounding in the ears of those who hear His voice. Come out of this world, be Holy to YAHveh, and worship Him in spirit and in truth. Let the redeemed remnant joyously respond with Isaiah: “Thou, O YAHveh, art our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Thy name” (Isa 63:16). A righteous band with a joyful heart like King David’s will respond with his words: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of YAHveh.’ … To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of YAHveh … To give thanks to the name of YAHveh” (Ps 122:1, 4).
Footnotes
1 The Ryrie Study Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1978), p. 1377.
2 “At first the name Baal (The Lord) was used by the Jews for their God without discrimination, but as the struggle for the two religions developed, the name Baal was given up in Judaism as thing of shame …” The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967), p. 87
3 It was common practice among the Jews to use the root “YAH” in names. For example, biblical names ending in “iah” in English were transliterated from “yah” in Hebrew. Many Hebrew prophets had names bearing the name of YAHveh:
Nehemiah NehemYAH “YAHveh has comforted”
Isaiah YeshaYAHu “Salvation is of YAHveh”
Jeremiah YirmeYAHu “YAHveh establishes”
Ezekiel YAHezkel “YAHveh God strengthens”
Daniel DaniYAHel “YAHveh God judges”
Joel YAHel “YAHveh is God”
Obadiah ObadYAH “Worshiper or servant of YAHveh”
Micah MichaYAHu “Who is like YAHveh?”
Zephaniah TsephanYAH “YAHveh has hidden”
Zechariah ZekarYAH “YAHveh remembers”
Malachi MalakYAH “Messenger of YAHveh”
