Jehovah who?

I will begin by stating that yes, I'm a Christian, and no, I'm not trying to start a fight. So, I've already ruined the traditional Christmas story for people, and now you're thinking I'm going to ruin something else too! Well, maybe. The topic for this post occurred to me while I was sitting backstage during our Christmas musical practice. (For those that attend my church, I'm Joseph, and that's why I'm "trying" to grow a beard!) In our Christmas musical many of the actors on stage use the name Jehovah when referring to God during their character's lines. Well, this is really interesting because Jehovah is not the name of God. (I hear your remarks....is this guy a heretic?...the name Jehovah occurs four times in my King James Bible!?) In order for me to explain this properly, the rest of this post is going to be a bit technical. That's my warning. If you don't like or don't think you can handle the technical parts, my advice is to stop reading and forget everything else that you've read so far. That being stated, I will continue.

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the Hebrew people had great reverence for the actual name of God. They revered it so much that they would not even speak the name because they were afraid that they would blaspheme the name. The name that we speak of is the name that was given to Moses when he asked God the question, when the children of Israel ask who has sent me what will I tell them. God replies by stating "I AM WHO I AM." God's name...I AM.

For those that don't know, there are no true vowels in the Hebrew language, only consonants. The language does have vowel points that look like dots and slashes; however, when the original Hebrew portion of the Bible was written, it was written without the vowel points. Thus in the original Hebrew portion the name of God would have been spelled with just the four Hebrew consonants.

This is the name of God written as it would have looked like in the original Hebrew portion of the Bible. Notice the four characters, they are the four consonants that compose the word. You may have seen the consonants transliterated by the symbols YHWH.

As generations passed, the Hebrew people added vowel points to the words in the Bible so that they wouldn't mispronounce them. Again, this partly goes back to their reverence for not only the name of God but the entire Word of God that was given. They had so much respect and reverence for the Word of God they didn't even want themselves or other generation to mispronounce the words.

What I did not mention earlier was that when the Jewish people were reading the Scriptures, and they came to the name of God, they typically replaced it by saying the word adonai. This word means "lord" in a common sense such as, "he is lord over this castle." As they began to put the vowel points in the words, in order to remind themselves not to say the actual name of God, they replaced the true vowel points of the name of God with the vowel points of the word adonai.

<---This is what the name of God looks like with the vowel points added. Remember these vowel points are the vowel points that actually go with the word adonai. The Jews did this because the word as it is in Hebrew, doesn't make grammatical sense. It was basically a safeguard, so they would see the nonsense word and remember....oh yeah I'm supposed to say "Adonai." The word with those vowel points is nonsensical. For instance, if I'm spelling the word "done" and I write it "deno" it's completely nonsense. There is no such word in the English dictionary as "deno." The consonants are in the right place, but the wrong placement of the vowels makes this word completely off and illogical. That's what has happened with the Hebrew name of God. The consonants are still in the same place, but the new vowel points make this word basically gibberish.

OK, so now you're wondering, what does this all have to do with Jehovah. Well, as translators began to translate the Hebrew scriptures, this "hybrid" Hebrew word for the name of God was translated "yehowah" because that's what it looks like pronounced out. Then as the word became anglo-sized it was changed to "Jehovah." Soooo.....when we use the word Jehovah, it actually comes from a gibberish nonsense word, and that is why it's not the name of God. Most modern translations (which I think this true for all translations outside of the KJV) do not use the word Jehovah at all in the Bible. For most all translations, when the name of God appears in the text it is written LORD with all capital letters. This signifies that the word translated was the actual name of God. If the text renders the word "Lord", then the word translated was the actual word adonai.

So your probably asking, well, what is the correct translation or pronunciation for the actual name of God. There has been great debate over it, but most of the scholar consensus is that the correct vocalization of the name is Yahweh.

The question then arises, how do you think God feels when so many people are not calling His name right? I don't know!? I can say with most certainty that God is probably not up in heaven upset that we are calling Him by the wrong name...."I can't believe those idiots, don't they know that's not my name!" I also highly doubt that if we say Jehovah, He doesn't know we're talking to Him. Take my name for example. My name is Jordan, and there have been many times that I have been conversing with people and they refer to me as Jason or Jonathan, and I don't question that they're talking to me. I also don't think they're idiots either. Needless to say, I doubt God is offended by calling Him, Jehovah, but now that you know it's gibberish, why not just refer to Him as Yahweh! (I do know this would change a lot of songs, in fact one of my favorite songs is "There's No God Like Jehovah." However, I have found that usually Yahweh makes a fine substitute.)

May we never think that God is offended or perturbed by the use of Jehovah, but may we get in the habit of using the name Yahweh.

Happy Birthday to Jesus?!

Okay, okay, I've gotten a little flack from my last post about ruining (or rocking as I like to think) everyone's Christmas story, mostly in jest, but I'm glad it got people actually thinking about their view of the Christmas story. So, on to the next post!

As it is still the Christmas season, I can't help but write about another Christmas post. Thinking back on my Christmas memories as a kid, I always remember how my family would get up on Christmas morning and before opening gifts, my dad would read the Christmas story. After reading the story, my mom would bring out a cake that had a lit candle on it, and we would all sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. After all, it was his birthday, right?!

For those that don't know, on Sunday nights I am teaching through the letter of Colossians with the high school students. One of the reasons that Paul writes this letter to the Christians in Colossae is due to the fact that Gnosticism was causing confusion with Christians. From what we understand, Gnostics believed that there was secret knowledge that God passed down through certain beings or individuals. They probably taught that Jesus was one of these special beings that had a piece of the secret knowledge. Paul was writing to the Colossians to totally refute the Gnostics and their teaching. One of the ways Paul accomplishes this is through lifting up Jesus Christ and who he is.....GOD! Not only is He the image of the invisible God (1:15), the whole fullness of deity dwells within Him (2:9).

You might be asking, well what does this necessarily have to do with singing Happy Birthday to Jesus? Well, on one of our Sunday evenings during our study in Colossians, I asked the students, did Jesus ever exist before that first Christmas morn? Surprisingly, several students said no! (And some of you reading this might have answered no as well.) I was surprised, because YES, Jesus existed before leaving Mary's womb on Christmas morning. Scriptures clearly speak of his existence. Colossians 1:16 states "for by Him (Jesus) all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him (Jesus) and for Him (Jesus)." Jesus was there for creation, so yes, Jesus existed before Joseph and Mary. Not only does Paul speak of Jesus' existence in the beginning, but John does as well in his gospel. He writes "in the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and 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. (1:1-3)." As Christians, our whole theology of the Trinity, rests in the fact that all three persons of the trinity, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit have always been. God never had a beginning; He never had a birthday.

Does this mean that I'm trying to say that Jesus never had a normal birth when he put on flesh and entered onto the earth? No! I believe that when Mary gave birth to Jesus, whatever day it was, I'm sure it looked, felt, and probably even smelled like a normal human birth! The point that I'm trying to make is that when Jesus came on the scene in Bethlehem, that was not the first day that Jesus existed. He has always been, and He will always be. The thing that we must remember is that Jesus Christ knowingly and willingly stepped out of heaven, humbled himself by putting on human flesh, and allowed himself to be born as an infant. He is the only person that was born by choice.

I told my students that Jesus is the only person that has been born, by human standards, but has always existed. So, do I think my family and your family should stop singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning?.....Naa, as long as we realize and as long as our children realize that Jesus may have been born onto the earth that Christmas morning, but it was only by His choice did He allow Himself to do it. Jesus loved us in spite of our sin so much that He gave up His throne in heaven and humbly put on our flesh so that he could die as our sacrifice!

May we never forget that we when we celebrate Jesus on Christmas morning, we celebrate a God that was, and is, and is to come!

Was Jesus Really Born in the Back Stable of an Inn?

It's finally December, and it's that time again. It's time to celebrate Christmas! For Christians this time is a special occasion of remembering and honoring when Jesus stepped down from heaven and put on flesh to dwell among His creation. We also celebrate the reason for His coming which was to ultimately die and pay the debt of sin that He knew we could never pay. That truly is something to sing and shout about!

Thinking about Christmas and remembering back to the stories from the Gospels of that first Christmas morn, have you ever wondered what it really was like that "Silent Night, Holy Night" as we like to call it? Did it really look like all the Christmas dramas and musicals that many church's (including my own) are putting on this time of year? Was it really the typical inn (or motel as we think of) that was full and unable to house Mary and Joseph? Were they actually placed in a stable that was probably behind the inn out in some field? Did Joseph (who was not actually Mary's husband yet) have to practically fend for himself in helping Mary deliver the baby? Was December 25th really the day when Jesus was born? As a child and most of my teenage years I never really thought about these questions. In fact, I remember reading the Christmas story from Luke as kid with my family and all the musicals and dramas made perfect sense to me.

Well, I'd like to share a little about what that Christmas morn might have looked like from a historical standpoint. As most people know, our dating system is set up with BC (standing for Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini which is latin for "in the year of our Lord"). This form of dating was a Christian invention and did not officially catch on in Europe until the era of Pope Gregory XIII in the late 1500s. Most Christmas dramas and musicals today state that the birth of Jesus occurred in 1 AD; however, that's probably not the case. Most New Testamant scholars and historians would agree that the birth of Jesus on the earth probably took place between 6-4 BC (remember BC counts down whereas AD counts up), with most leaning towards 6BC. According to Josephus, a great historian during the ancient times, accounts that Herod the Great probably would have died in what we know as 4 BC. That being the case, we know that shortly before his death Herod ordered the slaughter of all the babies in Bethlehem that were two years old and younger, which would give proof to the fact that Jesus was most likely born between 6-4 BC. [p. 188]

You're probably asking, well what about the actual date? Was it really December 25th? Well, most people have probably heard by now that December the 25th was a pagan holiday in the Western Roman Empire where they worshiped Sol Invictus ("the unconquerable sun"). When emperor Constantine had a Christian experience he wanted to make Christianity the religion of the empire so he did away with the holiday to Sol Invictus and instead changed it to celebrating the birth of Jesus. There really is no historical evidence that it really took place in the winter. In fact, in Luke's gospel, he mentions that shepherds would have watched their flocks at night (2:8). This activity was primarily done during the springtime when lambs were born, so perhaps Jesus was actually born in the spring. [p. 188]

Now that we know more confidently when the birth of Jesus occurred, what about the rest of the story? What about the inn? Would Mary and Joseph actually tried to get a room in the inn? The answer to the last question is most likely, no. I'm not trying to start a fight here, but they probably weren't looking in the inn when they came to Bethlehem. One reason is the fact that inns in that day were not a place that good Jewish people would have wanted to be in. According to historical evidence and tradition, inns were typically a place that crooks, Roman government officials, and prostitutes would have been found. I highly doubt that Joseph and Mary would have looked there to take themselves and their unborn child. Another reason Joseph and Mary probably would not have gone to an inn is because they probably would have made arrangements to stay with family. Think about this for a second, try to hear me out. Joseph and Mary were going back to Bethlehem because of the census. Bethlehem is the town that Joseph and Mary both came from, so more than likely they had family there. They also knew that the town would be full during this time, so they probably made arrangements to stay with their family. In the ancient times, and even today, family is priority and important. I'm sure their family was probably the only place that Mary and Joseph would have ever thought about going to in this occasion. I know, I know, you're wondering about Luke 2:7 that clearly states that Mary "wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in the manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." Ah, HA! you think I'm about to eat my words. Well, actually I'm not. The greek word used for "inn" in that verse is kataluma and elsewhere in the New Testament where this word is used it is typically translated "guest room." Yes, words can have more than one definition. There are many English words that have several totally different definitions, and Greek words are the same way as well. The fact is that most homes in ancient Palestine would usually have one to two rooms that were built off the ground. The ground floor would have served as a place where a few livestock would have been placed. As the verse could read, Mary put Jesus in the manger (feeding trough) because there was no room in the guest room. There were most likely several families trying to stay together in one house during this time of census. [p. 206]

Therefore, this leads to the other question, was Joseph really left to fend for himself in helping Mary deliver the baby? The answer to that question is probably not. Although my wife and I have never had children, my wife is a labor and delivery nurse and she gets to experience having children all day long. As most people know, and from the gross stories I've been told by my wife, child birthing is neither a clean or easy process. I highly doubt that if Joseph and Mary were staying at the home of a family member, he would have been the only one there that was capable of helping Mary. In fact, with all of the Jewish laws on being clean and unclean, I even doubt that Joseph would have even wanted much part in the actual birthing process at all.

I imagine this may rock the very center of your normal Christmas beliefs, but the same meaning is still there. No, Jesus probably wasn't born on December 25th 1 AD, but He was still born of a virgin woman. No, Mary and Joseph probably weren't turned away from some innkeeper without anymore rooms available to give out, but Jesus was still born in a lowly Jewish household just like any other typical person. No matter how the actual Christmas morning would have looked like, the story is still the same. Jesus Christ came down from Heaven and dwelt among us.

May we never forget the true reason we celebrate the Christmas holidays.

All citations are from the book Jesus and the Gospels by Craig L. Blomberg, Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997, pp 415.