(Originally Published as 7 Booklets, Copyright © 1989 by Richard Scott)
What is the Sacred Name?
Names are the primary, preeminent and principle indicators of intelligence.
Without names, helping you understand whatever they represent, you could have no mental handle on self-awareness or reality, other than at the most primitive level.
Names are the very means by which intelligent, knowledgeable beings express and understand their existence.
Without names, humanity would be just another of the animal creation, living and dying with no real understanding, intuition, knowledge of your ultimate purpose for existing or remembrance.
Adam's first act, after being created following the animal creation -- and the one thing that set him apart from, and revealed him to be a higher creation than the animals -- was the naming of the various animals (Genesis 2:19-20).
From this very first recorded example of human intelligence we learn the importance of names to our Creators; without names man is no better than the animals.
Doubtless the Creator who interacted with Adam found some of Adam's names for the different animals quite humorous. After all, since He made us, our Creator must also have a good sense of humor!
What Is The Name of Names?
Not only do names help you to better understand yourself, they can also help you to understand far greater, much more important concepts -- such as your heavenly Creator Himself.
If you take a few moments to think about this fact, you will soon realize how neglected this area of understanding has become; particularly among the majority of the so-called clergy in this modern world.
Among those who consider this subject important enough to acknowledge, at least superficially, there is no recognition of its extreme, indeed urgent, importance for modern humanity.
Even most of those who think they are giving proper homage to our Creator, by His actual name, are just fooling and deceiving themselves (or are being fooled and deceived by others), since they actually reject the revealed name of our Creator in favor of false pseudo-names, which in fact corrupt and demean their knowledge of the true Sovereign Creator of heaven and earth!
Does Your Creator Have Aliases?
Are there truthfully many names for your Creator?
If, as Peter taught: "There is salvation in none other, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12), then -- if it be true that our Creator has "many names," as the critics of His one and only true name claim -- it is also true that He is the author of confusion regarding the nature of salvation.
Your heavenly Creator is plainly not the source of such confusion (I Corinthians 14:33), but rather it is carnal men and women who create doubt and confusion on this subject -- wicked men and women who simply will not accept the pure truth concerning this vastly important sole name of salvation!
If the Messiah had not already come for the first time, and came today as before, what would happen to Him?
Doubtless He would be labeled a criminal by most religious-minded people (as He was), would likely be found on the FBI's top ten most wanted list, complete with full-face and profile mug shots with a numbered plate (the kind of pictures that those taking them demand anything but a friendly, smiling appearance of their subjects, the better to vilify and condemn by implication, in the absence of actual fact).
Absent such a photo, at the very least an artist's composite sketch -- with the most sinister and nefarious expression -- would be printed and circulated, and -- if they could get them -- fingerprints would be taken and stored in some central "criminal" database, along with a list of supposed aliases.
However the Creator and Savior do not have aliases. They want you to know them without any cause for doubt, confusion or misunderstanding.
So they do reveal their true name to their servants; those who accept the real pure truth on this third of the great ten commandments (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).
Sadly, this specific commandment -- like the one immediately following it, concerning the true sabbaths -- is given much lip-service, but is also one of the least obeyed and observed in truth.
Do you seriously believe that your Sovereign Creator would allow His sacred name to be generally known, so that rebellious and carnal men and women could take it in vain with nearly every waking breath?
Or has He not, instead, befuddled the thinking of most, allowing them to go all the way in their naturally wicked desires, and completely forget His name, even while thinking or believing they know it perfectly?
Translating Away The Sacred Name
Most have assumed, because of the false idea the Bible is inerrant, or without error -- in other words completely and totally inspired in its present-day form (see Lesson 1, What Is the Bible?) -- that our Creator's name, as originally revealed to Moses in his ancient language, is therefore unimportant for us to know.
Instead, such Bible-thumping religionists claim that you must worship as they do, solely the King James or NIV, or other English translation of that name.
This error is compounded on top of an even more basic error, the assumption that the Bible, as we have it today, is totally inspired (which Jews argue against, if it contains the New Testament, and most Protestants argue against if it contains the Apocrypha, or books between the Old and New Testaments).
Not only does this assume there are no books outside of the Bible canon that are inspired (and that all within the canon is), it also assumes that translating the Creator's name -- as all such modern translations do -- is likewise "inspired."
However, if His name was not intended for you to know in the same form and sounding as it was given to Moses, why did the Creator also say: "This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:15)? That rules out substitution or translation! ("Memorial" means: "something to be remembered.")
And the concept that any particular translation of the name (of which there are several) is "inspired" is founded upon the idea, originally developed in direct contradiction to the third of the ten commandments, that it is supposedly a sin for mortal man to ever speak that sacred name (as revealed in the original language of Ibreya, or ancient "Hebrew") out loud.
Moses said, instead, that it was a sin to speak the names of false and pagan "mighty ones" or idols: "And make no mention of other mighty ones, neither let it be heard out of your mouth" (Exodus 23:13).
Notice the commandment itself, in contrast, which -- contrary to how most Jews and Christians would have you believe -- does not include any such prohibition against knowing and saying the name of your Creator, but says instead that you should not take His name "in vain," also reveals that very name in the text of this commandment (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).
Not only does that commandment -- as all true scripture written since the time of Moses does -- use the Creator's sacred name in its context (which presupposes you must first know that name), but this commandment also very plainly outlaws the misuse of that name for vain purposes!
This most obviously does not include using the sacred name by merely saying it out loud, just as other scriptures reveal was a common practice by those who lived in the first thousand or more years since it was revealed through Moses.
This common usage even included composing many new names that used a contraction, or all, of the sacred name as a part of those names.
Many of the ancient prophets, including the Messiah or Savior Himself, had names that were composed of a contraction of the sacred name.
The ancient Ibreyan word for name, sem -- especially when used in the context of the Creator's name -- is not plural, as some detractors of the only name of salvation claim.
Notice that Exodus 3:15 specifically says: "This is my memorial" and not "these are my memorials".
Was the Sacred Name Lost?
Notice how specifically this commandment -- as explained more fully by Moses elsewhere -- presupposes an accurate knowledge of, including using or speaking that name, by those being commanded: "And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your Almighty One" (Leviticus 19:12).
Obviously then, by totally ignoring the importance of knowing this name, as revealed to Moses, those who believe any substitution for that name is okay must try to support their false doctrine and practice by denying the true significance of the third commandment, not to take the sacred name in vain -- which means you should take it seriously -- are forced to fall back on a foundation of many other falsehoods to justify their error and sin (which is the breaking of any commandment; I "John" 3:4).
Whoever claims the true pronunciation of this name has been hopelessly "lost" -- to appease their unrepentant hearts this is not an important doctrine, and avoid the stigma of the truth that they are willfully breaking one of the primary commandments of our Creator -- have done so by trying to "prove" the Savior Himself is a "liar".
Because He said: "Not one yod [the smallest letter in the Ibreyan alphabet, and also the first letter in the Creator's name], nor a tittle [a tiny serif on an Ibreyan letter], shall in any wise pass from the Law until all is fulfilled" ("Matthew" 5:18).
And the sacred name is a part of that law called the ten commandments (which was specifically the subject of the Savior's comment; see "Matthew" 5:19, 21 and 27, for instance)! Therefore the sacred name's true pronunciation is still known today and you can, therefore, obey the third commandment!
Those claiming that the knowledge of how this name was originally pronounced has somehow been "lost" do so only by ignoring the fact there is far more historical proof for the pronunciation of this single word of the Ibreyan language -- including by ancient historians in different foreign languages, so you can be certain of its correct and original pronunciation, if you wish -- than for any other word of that ancient, more-or-less dead language.
Three separate prophecies of scripture state that, in these last days men and women will call upon the sacred name and will thus be saved ("Joel" 2:32; Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13).
Obviously, if anyone can call on that name today, then that name -- the exact same name found in the original prophecy of "Joel" 2:32, but not in the New Testament translation into Greek -- has never been lost or forgotten.
All of which means that the Creator's true name, as originally revealed through Moses, is closely and intimately tied in to the very concept of real salvation!
Hal-lav-Yah
If you've ever heard some Christian songs, or read their Bible, you have already come across the English transliteration of this curious word ("hallelujah").
But what, exactly, does this mean?
The exact spelling of this word, as used in Christian songs, is not found in the English Bible, and it is doubtful that many, if not most, who use it even know what the original word is supposed to mean.
The only time a form of this word is found in the English Bible it is spelled "alleluia" (as in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4 and 6).
It is actually a phrase, or a combination of words, in the original Ibreyan language (it is not a Greek language word), that is found in many Old Testament scriptures, particularly in the Psalms (therefore we also find it in modern religious songs based upon those psalms).
But what exactly does it mean, and why does it occur in scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments?
What is the true meaning of hal-lav-Yah, and what does it reveal about the Creator's true name?
The full answer is found in the scriptural meaning and purpose of the Creator's sacred name, as we will now see.
The short answer is that hal-lav means "praise you," and the rest is a contraction -- or abbreviated form -- of the Creator's true name.
What Is A Name?
A name, as you have already seen in Adam's example, is far more than a mere means of separating one thing from another. Separate things are distinguished by what we call "common nouns".
But a name is what we call a "proper noun".
Proper nouns describe more than just individuals by their most prominent personality traits (as many names originally did).
Names also carry with them certain extra connotations, such as reputation (or lack thereof), esteem (or the absence of same), and fame or renown (or even infamy and dishonor).
Through names you learn many different things about the individuals they denote; things which are important for you to know if you are to understand or have any sort of dealings with anyone.
In some cases you may discover a name, or reputation conveyed by such a name, that is undeserved or fails to accurately describe someone.
Therefore you might add to a name the reputation conveyed by your own personal experiences with the individual (or blindly accept the alleged experiences of others), and thereby remember someone accordingly, unless or until further experience warrants changing your mind about them, for good or bad.
Messages to the Seven Congregations
In the messages to the seven congregation, found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, you will find far more than addresses to ancient congregations in Asia Minor.
Those messages are, in fact, prophetic revelations to modern congregations that fit the descriptions given, and mainly refer to the end of the present age just prior to the Savior's second coming, as well as conditions that have existed historically since this prophecy was first penned around 1,900 years ago.
For example, see Revelation 2:6, 16, and 3:3, 10-11.
The message to "Sardis," for instance, reveals they: "...have a name that [as though] you live, and [but], are dead" (Revelation 3:1).
While "Pergamos" is commended because: "...you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith" (Revelation 2:13).
Another congregation, "Philadelphia," is described as having: "...a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name" (Revelation 3:8).
Apparently others, such as "Sardis," have denied His name!
Another curious feature of the message to "Philadelphia" is the following:
"These things say He who is faithful and true, He who has the Key of David, He who opens, and no man shuts; and shuts and no man opens" (Revelation 3:7).
What exactly is the meaning of these cryptic words?
They are, in fact, found in one other scripture. And it is there where you can begin to get an inkling of their significance.
In "Isaiah" 22:20-22 the following explanation is found:
"And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: and I will clothe him with your [the treasurer Sebna, verse 15] robe, and strengthen him with your sash, and I will commit your government into his hand...and the key of the house [i.e. Temple] of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."
The Key of David
The true significance of the Key of David, therefore, concerns both this Eliakim as an individual and the Temple of David.
Once you examine the history of both you will learn exactly what the "Key of David" really was and means.
In II Kings 18 and 19 you will read about Eliakim, the son of Hilkia, and in chapter 18, verses 17 through 36, you will read about the Assyrian general who besieged the ancient city of Yaravsalem (verses 17-25), and then dared blaspheme the name of the Creator of heaven and earth (verses 30, 32-35; 19:3, 6, 22, etc.)!
One of the men who heard this blasphemy, and reported to king Hezekiah -- with his clothing torn in grief and anguish -- was Eliakim the son of Hilkia (II Kings 18:18, 26, 37; 39:2).
So you see there is a direct connection between honoring our Creator's true name (which obviously even the pagan Assyrian general knew how to pronounce and spoke, albeit in blasphemy) and the actions of this important historical individual.
So how is this connected with king David and the Temple his son, Solomon, built that was known as David's Temple?
Why was this Temple built? It was not, like the temporary cloth tabernacle tent before it, to be just a temporary dwelling for our Creator (II Samuel 7:5-7; I Chronicles 17:4-6).
Instead, this Temple of David -- or House of David -- was intended to be a permanent place (or prophetically represent a future Temple, yet to be built) to house the ark of the covenant (II Samuel 7:2; I Chronicles 17:1) upon which the name of our Creator was called or placed (II Samuel 6:2; I Chronicles 13:6)!
Just as the Creator's name was placed upon, or used in context with, the ark of the covenant, the Temple -- which housed the ark -- was also called by His name (I Chronicles 17:21-24; 22:5, 7, 10, 19, 28:2-3; II Chronicles 6:8-11, 20).
So the Key of David, then, is our Creator's true name!
But why is this such an important point, and what is the relation to the one, unique and only name of salvation (Acts 4:12)?
One of the Ten Commandments In Vain?
Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11 reveal the third commandment, which tells us we must not take the Creator's name in vain.
Note: The words "LORD thy God," which are found in the English Bible translations, are substituted for the Creator's actual name, and were used due to superstitious fears over knowing and pronouncing that name, by many religious-minded but foolishly deceived people.
What does it really mean, to take this name in vain?
Since the name does appear in the original language version of these verses of scripture, this reveals that knowing and using the sacred name -- even pronouncing it -- for the right reasons, is certainly not a "vain" use of that name.
If the sacred name were never intended to be known or used, after all, it never would have been revealed through the third commandment in the first place.
In fact, knowing and using that name is commanded, if you are to ever perfectly obey and keep all of the ten commandments; because failing to keep even one of them -- such as not taking the Creator's sacred name in vain -- is equal to not keeping, or obeying, any of the commandments (James 2:10-11)!
The knowledge and use of your Creator's name was intended for men and women in all ages.
This is evident from two facts. First, when revealing His name through Moses, our Creator told him: "This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:15).
Second, from the time the sacred name was revealed through Moses, various other names were composed that included either the Creator's name, or a contraction of it.
Examples of this can be found throughout scripture. In fact, the Savior's name is one of these! (Note: His name has never been J.C.!)
To claim our Creator's name cannot or should not be known or used is precisely one way it can be taken in vain!
In other words, our Creator also commands us not to mention the names of false "mighty ones" (Exodus 23:13), so if you try to apply this same prohibition to the Creator's name, you are in effect treating His sacred name as though it is a name of one of those false idols!
How odd that would-be religious people remember and institutionalize the names of such pagan false idols (such as the names of the days of the modern week), but when it comes to the Creator's sacred name, it seems, they feel like they must forget and suppress it at all costs.
Both of the words "lord" (a form of the pagan Baal) and especially "god" (from a Babylonian idol of fame and fortune; see Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Hebrew Dictionary listing #'s 1408 and 1409, noting particularly the pronunciation: "gawd") are prime examples of this false religious doctrine.
It is one thing to avoid misusing the sacred name, in swearing falsely by it or vainly using it for some evil purpose or intent -- such as blaspheming or cursing using this name -- but quite another thing to avoid using or knowing it at all.
That is exactly what taking the sacred name in vain means, which is considering it unimportant, outdated, or unworthy of your notice or worship.
The Only Name of Salvation?
Peter, as well as Paul, both quoted the prophet Yavel ("Joel"), in prophesying that anyone, in these last days today, may call upon the heavenly Creator's name (which is the Savior's name), and thereby gain salvation (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13; quoting "Joel" 2:32).
So whatever that name is, it will be generally known, even though also generally unpopular (because it is not accepted by any of the modern false religions), in the near future.
Neither of these authors of scripture quoted a Greek translation of this name, as found in "Joel" 2:32, because Greek was never a commonly understood or used language in their region of the world, at any time!
The witness of Yavceph ("Josephus"), a historian from their nation who lived around the time of the Roman destruction of Yaravsalem in 70 common era (40 years after the Savior's death and resurection), sufficiently proves this:
"I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and [to] understand the elements of the Greek language, although I have so long accustomed myself to speak our language, that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient accuracy because our nation does not encourage those who learn the languages of many nations.... because they look upon this sort of accomplishment as low-class....therefore...there have yet hardly been so many as TWO or THREE who have succeeded therein, who were immediately well-rewarded for their pains" (Jospehus' Antiquities XX, xi, 2; cf. William Whiston's Josephus' Complete Works, p. 462 and Appendix pp. 1-2).
A complete examination of Yavceph and other historical sources on this major truth must await a more complete article on the subject, based on research first published in 1985, in a future issue.
The ancient prophecy of Yavel ("Joel") was originally written, including the Creator's true name, in ancient "Hebrew" or Ibreya.
So that is therefore the very name intended by the prophet, not any translation or substitution for that name, with any other word or name that our Creator does not, never has, and never will recognize as His only name of salvation!
That is why Peter said His name is the ONLY name whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
Our Creator "does not change" (Malachi 3:6; cf. Hebrew 7:21), He is: "...the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8), and nowhere can you find the common Christian "name" for the Savior revealed or prophesied anywhere in the entire Old Testament!
How Can A Name Save?
What is the secret of this name that makes it possible for you to find salvation only through it, and impossible to find salvation without it?
We know, for instance, that Abraham will be saved (James 2:21-24), who lived before our Creator's name was revealed or known (Exodus 6:3; in spite of the fact that modern Bibles, and their ancient sources, incorrectly put this name in the mouths of such patriarchs as Abraham; cf. Genesis 12:8, 13:4, 14:22, 16:2, 13, 19:14, 21:33, 24:27, 31, etc.).
If this name was known before Moses, it would not have needed to be revealed through him, and there would have been names containing abbreviations of the sacred name prior to the time of Moses (but scripture reveals no such names before Moses).
Since this name was revealed through Moses as one of the primary ten commandments, it is definitely essential for salvation (as are all the other commandments).
In addition to this, you are only granted salvation today through the Savior's blood. Most religious-minded people know this much.
What they fail to understand or notice, however, is the significant fact that He was condemned to death under the false charge of blasphemy ("Matthew" 27:65; Mark 14:64)!
And hidden by all modern translations of the surrounding verses of these accounts (the first of which was an eye-witness account, remember), as well as the last three verses of Luke 22, is the fact the Savior was so accused because He spoke the Creator's name -- mistranslated as "power" in these verses -- and therefore was self-righteously condemned to death by the Sanhedrin, under the false charge of blasphemy.
They, like modern Jews who follow them in this same error (cf. Revelation 2:9, 3:9), wrongly believed that just speaking our Creator's true name was somehow taking it "in vain."
Because it is obvious the Savior did not sin by doing this -- or else His life would have been tainted by sin, and His blood could then save nobody, including Himself -- and because His blood was shed for this very accusation, therefore the name in which He spoke is directly responsible for salvation!
All of which means that you must accept and worship in this one and only name if you are to be saved!
Afraid of the Truth?
Why are most modern ministers actually afraid of this vital truth?
Simply because it reveals they are not teaching anything about the true way of salvation -- and therefore are not gaining salvation themselves, so long as they refuse to repent of this fatal error and sin!
This one truth, once it is really understood in all its radiant, eyeopening but simple elegance, reveals the utterly pagan falsehoods at the core of all modern religions, and why they are teaching everyone in the ways of death and destruction, rather than life and salvation.
False ministers are simply afraid of this vital, life-saving truth because it reveals they are themselves stubbornly and unrepentantly headed for total destruction, as the enemies of true salvation!
It follows, as surely as the night must follow day, that those who refuse to accept or teach this glorious truth are the enemies of that truth, and must suffer the ultimate penalty for this, unless they repent.
Only those who don't fear, but warmly, wholeheartedly and genuinely accept and embrace this truth of the only true name of salvation -- in spite of threats, or actual acts, of harm from those who refuse to do so -- will be accounted worthy of the rewards and salvation to be gained from worshiping only in that great name.
So What Is the Only Name of Salvation?
Exactly what the true name of salvation is requires more in-depth evidence and proof than there is space for in this brief article, to concretely reveal this name of salvation, and disprove all the false names in which most worship they know not what.
The scope of this research, while beyond the limitations of this brief article on the subject, were long ago published and revealed in a full-blown treatise and print publication titled: "What Is Our Creator's Name?," which is no longer available.
However, it will be republished in the near future, our Creator willing, in an online format you can easily download and print out.
Meanwhile, remember that it is only those who call upon this true name of salvation -- embodied in the phrase: "hal-lav-Yah" -- who can and will be saved!
If you don't yet know or accept that name, and if you are truly interested in real salvation, you must discover that name, and begin calling upon the Creator by His one and only true name each and every day.
Otherwise your prayers, and hopes for salvation -- based on any false names, in violation of this primary commandment -- may very well be all in vain!