It’s been a debate among some believers that we should only refer to God in His original names. I have tried to do some research on it, but it is confusing to me.
Let’s start by reading of an incident that occurred on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:4-8 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his OWN LANGUAGE. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our OWN TONGUE, wherein we were born?”
This was an exceptional day…it was the birthday of the church. On this special day, as these believers were together, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with ‘other tongues (languages).’ As they did so, a great miracle occurred…everyone there heard these people speak, and each one heard them speaking in their own individual language! I bring out this event to demonstrate an important point. THE LORD DESIRES TO SPEAK TO US IN A LANGUAGE WE CAN UNDERSTAND. How thankful we should be that the Bible has been translated into so many languages so that people all around the world can read in their own language the Word of God. It is reported that the Bible has been translated into over 4000 languages. We thank the Lord for that!
There are some who insist we must use the original Hebrew names for God given in His Word in order to truly have a relationship with Him. Some greatly criticize the use of the word Jehovah by pointing out (correctly) that there were no vowels in the original use of that word. Some will point out that God’s name is not Jehovah, His name is YHWH, an unpronounceable word. They will sometimes use the word Yahweh. It was actually in the 1500’s that the name Jehovah came into use. Will the Lord reject our use of the name Jehovah? Absolutely not! In every language, there will be some variation of the different Hebrew words found in the Bible, but the Lord desires for us to know Him, and I cannot imagine that He would not receive the praises and prayers of those who use their individual languages to address Him.
In the King James Bible, and in other translations, the word for Jehovah is given as LORD, with all the letters written in large caps. While there are many names in the Bible for our Lord, the word LORD will always refer to His name Jehovah (or YHWH, or Yahweh).
In the Bible, the Jews knew the true NAME OF GOD but did not obey the WORD OF GOD. The Lord Jesus taught them that to keep God’s Word meant more than the words they used. Probably no one had more reverence for the name of God than the Pharisees and the religious leaders of Israel, but their extreme zeal did not prevent them from the tragic crime of crucifying God’s Son about 2,000 years ago. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” as we read in John 1:11.
1 Samuel 16:7 teaches us that “the LORD looketh on the heart.” He knows what is in our hearts and if we use our language’s interpretation of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek words, the Lord certainly knows our heart’s intent. While we do want to exercise the greatest respect for the Lord’s name and who He is, using our own language to address Him or speak about Him shows no disrespect at all. (CC) (711.2)