In the Eth Cepher, we wrestled about with the phrase found in Shemot 3:13-14 that is commonly interpreted as follows:

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

However, we interpreted this passage as follows:

Shemot (Exodus) 3:13-14

And Mosheh said unto ELOHIYM, Behold, when I come unto the children of Yisra’el, and shall say unto them, The ELOHIYM of your fathers has sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And ELOHIYM said unto El-Mosheh, EHYAH ASHER EHYAH:  and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Yisra’el, EHYAH has sent me unto you.

Now, in the Hebrew, the phrase EHYAH ASHER EHYAH, which we construed as a formal name is spelled as follows:           אהיה  אשׁר אהיה

Many have elected to define this as I AM THAT I AM, yet others have said it is so much more than that.  When we look closely at the name, we find many things. First, the name spelled aleph, heh, yod, heh, is capable of being pronounced Ha’YAH, the I AM, if the aleph is silent.  This has its own blessing, given the following anagrams of the tetragrammaton:

(יהוה) YAHUAH – yod, heh, vav, heh

(היו) HAYAH – heh, yah, heh – Who is

(הוה) HOVAY – heh, vav, heh – Who was

(יוה) YAVOH – yod, vav, heh – Who is to come

In our group, we often discuss ELOHIYM as the plurality of YAH expressed in the finite; where ELOHIYM is manifest as the aleph (א), the shin (ש), and the mem (מ).  The Aleph represents Mashiach, the Shin represents Abba the Father, and the mem represents the Spirit, or Ruach HaQodesh.  So, in looking at the word EHYAH, we can also see the Aleph plus HaYAH; that is to say, the Aleph (Mashiach) at the right hand of the I AM.  Given that the Aleph (Mashiach) is the Word, and the Word was with YAH, and the Word was YAH (Yahuchanon 1:1), we see just that representation in this word aleph-heh-yod-heh.

Those with discernment – and that should include all readers of sacred scripture – can begin to see that the sacred name and the understanding of the sacred name becomes critically important for the talmiyd who seek to know the identity of the Father, and the Son whom he sent.

Yahuachanon (John) 17:1-3

These words spoke YAHUSHA, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you: 2 As you have given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true YAH, and YAHUSHA HAMASHIACH, whom you have sent.

For we can begin to see now, that the name YAHUSHA, begins first with YAH – I AM.  Yet, it also contains YAHU – I AM HE, and it finishes with SHA – who saves. You see that the King does in fact come in the name of YAHUAH.  This is virtually unknown to those who have refused to pronounce the sacred name, saying instead HaShem or Adonai, and is equally unknown to those who have adopted the English mispronunciation of the Latin Jesu (pronounced Yeshu) in its Greek hybrid form (from Iesous) to Jesus.  This is not to forego those who have come to faith in Mashiach under this name, for such a roster includes also me. However, the name Jesus reflects the marriage of the Roman church to its Greek foundation while ignoring its Hebrew root.

Romayim (Romans) 11:16-21

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you. 19 You will say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if YAH spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not you.

Therefore, the trueness of the Name itself discloses the inherent truth of deity of HaMashiach, and discloses the truth of the statement that the King does come in the name of YAHUAH. Yet, let us consider another witness not only to the relationship between the name YAHUSHA and YAHUAH or YAH, but the claim to the name EHYAH:

Yahuchanon (John) 8:51-59

Amein, Amein, I say unto you, If a man guards my word, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Yahudiym unto him, Now we know that you have a devil. Avraham is dead, and the prophets; and you say, If a man guards my word, he shall never taste of death. 53 Are you greater than our father Avraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom do you make yourself? 54 YAHUSHA answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honours me; of whom ye say, that he is your ELOHIYM: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and guard his word. 56 Your father Avraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Yahudiym unto him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Avraham? 58 YAHUSHA said unto them, Amein, Amein, I say unto you, Before Avraham was, EHYAH.  59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but YAHUSHA hid himself, and went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

The teaching that a fence should be drawn around the sacred name is a teaching that found its source in one of the last of the Nasi of the Sanhedrin in Israel – namely Rabbi Akiyva, and the working group of the Pharisees who would galvanize the Yerushalmi Talmud into the Babylonian Talmud which would later come to dominate Judaism in the modern world.  Is this consistent with the teaching of HaMashiach?

Yahuchanon (John) 17:25-26

O Righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them your name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.