The Creator's Name
In Proto-Sinaitic Pictographs
The beauty of pictographic Hebrew was that, even if someone couldn't read, they could tell what a word meant just by looking at it. So let's look at Yahowah's Name as it appears in Proto-Sinaitic pictographs and see what we can learn from it. Please refer to the pictograph above throughout this article.
The single most important part of Yahowah's Name is the very first character, the yod on the far right, which shows Him reaching down to man with an open hand.
Isn't that just how a father reaches down and out to his child, offering to help him stand up? We do not fear an open hand. An arm and hand reaching down to us is a sign of someone wanting to lift us up, to help. An open hand is the sign of friendship, of association, of peaceful intent. The Heavenly Messengers, when announcing to the shepherds the birth of Yahowsha (yah-OH-shah), proclaimed, "Peace on earth! Good will towards men!" Such is the intention of Yahowah, our Creator. Yahowsha Himself symbolizes Yahowah's arm and hand, reaching down from Heaven to lift us up. It is all shown right there in the first character of our Creator's Name.
The next character in Yahowah's Name is the Hebrew heh. It was represented in Proto-Sinaitic pictographs as the figure of a person. We find the heh appearing twice in Yahowah's Name.
Notice that the two people are on their feet, rather than kneeling or prostrated. That's because Yahowah wants us to stand with Him. That is why He reaches down to lift us up. Also, the two are looking up. Their heads are not bowed, as religions suggest we do.
There are two people, which is indicative of Abraham and Sarah, the very first couple invited to participate in Yahowah's one and only family-oriented Covenant. That's because family is the most important thing to Yahowah. Notice, too, that they are reaching upwards to Yahowah, enabling Him to actually take their hands and lift them up, again like a Father with His child.
Dode, mistakenly known as David, wrote, "I will lift up my hands to Your Name!" That declaration is in keeping with the very nature of Yahowah's Name. It is not worship. It is complete and utter surrender to our heavenly Father, Whom we trust and adore.
Yahowah's Covenant is a relationship. In order for that relationship to work, both of us need to respond. Yahowah must respond to us, and we must respond to Him. If He were not reaching down to us, we could never reach Him. If we are not reaching up to Him, He will not force us to take His hand.
Yahowah values and encourages the use of free will. He loathes forced submission and those who submit themselves to the machinations of man's self-governance.
There are 5 hands represented in Yahowah's Name—the two on each human and one of His. It is probably no coincidence that normally there are also 5 fingers on each of our own hands. There also just happen to be 5 terms and conditions to His Covenant. They are:
- Walk away from Babylon, from corruption, from confusion, from country, from politics, from patriotism, from religion, from one's earthly family.
- Trust and rely on Yahowah, which requires us to know Him and understand what He is offering by closely observing and carefully considering His Towrah.
- Walk to Yahowah and become perfect, which is achieved by accepting His 7 Invitations (participating in His 7 Feasts).
- Read the Covenant, coming to know and understand its Terms and Benefits so that we can respond appropriately.
- Those of us who are males are to be cirumcised. If we are parents, we are to circumcise our sons as a sign that we are committed to teaching them the Towrah and raising them to become part of Yah's family.
Surely it is just another coincidence that there are also 5 benefits of Yahowah's Covenant:
- Eternal Life (as a result of the promise of Passover)
- Perfection (and thus vindication and redemption) (as a result of the promise of Unleavened Bread)
- Adoption into Yah's Covenant Family (as a result of the promise of First Fruits)
- Enrichment and Enlightenment (receiving the Towrah and benefiting from its Teaching as a result of the promise of Seven Sabbaths)
- Empowerment (also part of the promise of Seven Sabbaths)
The third character in Yahowah's Name is the waw. The waw is the most repeated character in the Hebrew alef-bet and is most often translated as "and", i.e., something that joins two thoughts or things together. There are Yahowah and mankind. Abraham and Sarah, joined in marriage, came together to conceive Izhaq (which means "Laughter") according to Yahowah's promise. A man and his wife and their children make up a family, where trust, love, laughter, and safety ought to abide and grow.
The waw was originally represented as a tent peg, which in ancient times was used to secure one's home—usually a tent—to the ground. The more secure the tent peg, the more secure the home. A larger tent peg could help secure a much larger tent. The waw as a tent peg also represented the home itself.
So having the man and woman on either side of the home, standing and reaching up to Yahowah, Who is reaching down to them, shows us the beautiful purpose of the entire creation: Yahowah wants to adopt us into His Family, to make with us a home that is safe and secure. It is all right there in front of us in His Name.
Is our God cool or what!
Next: What In the World Is Going On Here?
= יהוה = ee-ah-oh-ah = Yahowah
Song / Mizmor / Psalm 19:7
Yahowah's Towrah is complete and entirely perfect, returning and restoring the soul. Yahowah's testimony is trustworthy and reliable, making understanding and obtaining wisdom simple for the open-minded and receptive.
Yahowah's (
) Towrah (torah – teaching, guidance, direction, and instruction) is complete and entirely perfect (tamym – without defect, lacking nothing, correct, genuine, right, helpful, beneficial, and true), returning and restoring (suwb – transforming) the soul (nepesh – consciousness). Yahowah's testimony ('eduwth – restoring and eternal witness) is trustworthy and reliable ('aman – verifiable, confirming, supportive, and establishing), making understanding and obtaining wisdom (hakam – educating and enlightening oneself to the point of comprehension) simple for the open-minded and receptive (pethy – easy for those who are receptive).