WHERE DID THE NAME JESUS COME FROM?
STRONG’S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE, page 37 of the Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, reference 2424 under the name Jesus, “Iesous, of Hebrew origin
(3091); Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of the Lord…” Reference 3091 in the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary under the name Jehoshua, “Yehowshua; from 3068 and 3467.
Reference 3068 is the name of the LORD in the Old Testament, which we know is YAHWEH. Reference 3467 is the suffix “yasha,” pronounced yaw-shah’, meaning to free,
save, deliver, help, defend, bring (having) salvation, saviour, to get victory. Notice the name of Christ is derived from the name of God (YAHWEH) and the suffix ‘yasha.’
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW SCOFIELD REFERENCE EDITION, page 88 states that the word “saved” is a translation of the Hebrew word “yasha.” This is the root word from which
the name Jehoshua or Jesus came, “…for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).”
THE NEW WESTMINSTER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, page 478, under Jesus. (Latin from Greek Iesous, which is from Hebrew Jeshua, a late form of Jehoshua or Joshua - Yahweh is
salvation).
If you look at many other names like Elijah, Isaiah, Zechariah, and Ezekiel, you will notice they are all Hebrew names. We know Jesus was a Hebrew, so how could His name
have been a Latin name from the Greek. In fact, in the Hebrew alphabet, there is no J sound. Wherever you see the letter J, it is pronounced with a Y sound. For example,
in our alphabet we use the letters ‘ph’ to produce the ‘f’ sound such as in the word telephone. In fact, the capital letter J was non-existent until the 16th
century.
When a person moves to a foreign country, the language will change, but his name does not. Wouldn’t it be terrible if every time we went to a different country we would
have to receive a new name? Then why did the name of the Lord change? How can we prove that His name was not pronounced Jesus in the Bible. Refer to Acts 26: 13-15 as the
Apostle Paul is speaking to King Agrippa. “At midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me, and them
which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, “Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou
me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” And I said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecuteth.”
Notice the Lord spoke in the HEBREW TONGUE! The Lord could not have said His name was Jesus, because Jesus is not a Hebrew name. The Apostle Paul wouldn’t even know or
recognize the name Jesus.
WHAT IS THE TRUE NAME OF THE LORD?
In Revelation 2:13 it states, “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith.”
The Church of Pergamos, where Satan’s seat was, had those that still held fast to His name. The Church of Philadelphia, in Revelation 3:8, was commended by Christ for
not denying His name. Now, almost 1,900 years later, it is obvious that something happened. Now we have the name Jesus that came from the Greek name of Iesous, which in
turn came from the Hebrew names of Jehoshua or Joshua. What was the name these people held fast to and did not deny?
The true name of the Lord is YAHWEH-YASHA. YAHWEH (the Lord) of the Old
Testament is YAHWEH-YASHA (the Lord) of the New Testament. In Hebrews 1:4, it
tells us that the Messiah inherited His name from His Father. In Jeremiah
23:5-6, YAHWEH says that He is going to raise unto David a righteous branch and a king (Christ) and that the name
of the Messiah would be called YAHWEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Notice that Christ, the Branch, will have the same name as God.
There are some, mostly the Jewish people, who call the Messiah Y’shua, Yeshua or Yahshua.
The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible under Yah states that Yah is a short
form of YAHWEH. The suffix “shua” (7769)* means cry or riches. To call the Lord Y’shua, Yahshua or Jesus eliminates His eternal name, YAHWEH. Just like Abram’s
name was changed to Abraham in Genesis 17:5, yet it is the same man; likewise YAHWEH has become YAHWEH-YASHA, yet it is the same Lord. YAHWEH was going to save His people
from their sins through YAHWEH-YASHA. YAHWEH-YASHA has become the Lord of the New Covenant by His blood shed on the cross.
In John 1: 10-12 it states, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” In John 2:23 it says, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at
the Passover, the feast days, many believed in his name, when they saw the
miracles which he did.” John 3:18 also says, “He that believeth on him is not
condemned: But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Luke 24:47 states, “And
that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations.” Now we understand what He really meant when YAHWEH-YASHA said, “I am come in my Father’s name,
and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive (John 5:43).”
Many people believe that the name of the Lord is Jesus. I, myself, believed in and loved the name, Jesus. However, loving truth is an important characteristic in the
makeup of any man, woman or child who loves and fears God. The truth is that the name spoken to the Apostle Paul was YAHWEH-YASHA, not Jesus. Remember that the Lord spoke
to the Apostle Paul in Hebrew and gave him His name directly. He would have never used or spoken any other name. Paul did not know the name Jesus. This may be hard to
comprehend at first, but the apostles or the early church never even knew or heard of the name Jesus.
THERE IS ONLY ONE NAME!
PELOUBET’S BIBLE DICTIONARY, page 433, under Names, “Among the Hebrews each person received but a single name to distinguish an individual from others of the same
name. It was customary to add to his own proper name that of his father and ancestors.” Our main objective in life as Christians is to know the Lord and to know His
name. Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” The name of the Messiah was not just an ordinary name.
In Acts 4: 10-12 it tells us in our English Bible that there is no other name but Jesus Christ to call upon to be saved. Yet in Joel 2:32 it says that whosoever calls on
the name of YAHWEH shall be saved. This passage of scripture is quoted again in the New Testament in Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13. What happened to the name of YAHWEH? We
know the name of YAHWEH endures forever, so what happened to it?
The truth is that the name of the Lord God and the Lord Christ has to be the same. Otherwise, there are two names we can call upon. Hebrews 6:10 states that the saints
were commended for laboring for God’s name. Revelation 2:3 states that the Church of Ephesus was commended for laboring
for Christ’s name. Is it possible that these
two churches labored for two different names?
In Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11, the Bible tells us that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear to YAHWEH. Philippians 2:10 says that at the name Jesus every
knee is going to bow. This means that either everyone is going to bow at two names or that the true name of the Lord is YAHWEH-YASHA. In Acts 9:15, the Apostle Paul was
commissioned to bear the name of Christ to the Jews and Gentiles. Yet in Acts 15:14-17, the Gentiles were called out to
take on God’s name. Can Christ possibly have a
different name than God?
Psalms 72:17 states about Christ that “His name shall endure forever: his name shall continue as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall
call him blessed.” Yet in Exodus 3:15 and Psalms 135:14, the scripture tells us YAHWEH'S name endures forever. Are two names going to endure forever? Zechariah 14:9,
prophesying about the future, tells us that YAHWEH shall be king over all the earth, and
His name one. There is only one name that Christ can possibly have, and that is
YAHWEH-YASHA. Jeremiah 23:5-6 declares quite plainly that the name of YAHWEH would be in the name of the Messiah.
The Bible clearly teaches us that there is only one God and that His name is
one. The name of YAHWEH-YASHA magnifies YAHWEH, which means Self-Existing One or eternal One,
and acknowledges His deity. His name makes Christianity a true extension of Judaism.
It may very well be that the beauty of the name YAHWEH-YASHA may not only come by prayer and study of scriptures, but a strong desire for truth that
supersedes man’s
own doctrines and traditions. There has been a great outpouring of the Holy Ghost on many people in these last days. God is in the process of restoring His church to be
like the church in the book of Acts. In Acts 3: 20-21 it tells us that our Lord is coming back but is kept in heaven until the restitution of all things. It may very well
be that the next thing to be restored is the Lord’s true name. As we begin to believe on His name, the Lord will confirm His true name in our hearts with an abundance
of peace.