Yahweh

Exodus 6:2-3 NIV: “God also told Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.”

Knowing the name of the person you pray to or worship is important in any faith. In the Bible, the name given to God appears as early as the second chapter of Genesis. Yet, this verse above records the first time God audibly gives people his name. Where, you might ask? Doesn’t it just say “Lord”? Yes, but if you read the Hebrew, you will see this written as “I am YHWH” and “My name is YHWH.”

Before this moment, God had declared himself “God Almighty” (El Shaddai). So Abraham and his descendants had always referred to God as El Shaddai. Here is where it all changed.

Of note, the Jewish people, having heard God’s official name, felt it was too holy to write down. Instead, they removed the vowels and wrote the name as YHWH. These four letters became known as the Tetragrammaton.

The Y is the Hebrew letter Yod and can be used as a prefix for “I will be.” H is the letter Hey and means “I am.” The final letter W is Waw and is considered a hook. Pairing it with the Hey at the end changes the I am to I will be. Yod Hey Waw Hey (YHWH) thus means “I will be, I am, I will be.”

There’s something else special about these four letters: They are known to represent breathing sounds. YH represents inhale, and WH represents exhale. In other words, when said properly, “Yah” is pronounced on the inhale of breath, and “Weh” is pronounced on the exhale. You should try it!

This is quite profound if you think about it; a baby’s first deep breath in and out is an utterance of God’s name. It means that when I heave a great sigh in desperation, I’m speaking a prayer to Yahweh.

The piece I shared today was meant to reflect my own experience with YHWH. Personally, I call on God’s name through my breathing in a centering prayer daily. As I inhale and exhale His Holy name, I think about how I declare that He is and will be, but also that His Spirit gives me life and is working to transform me spiritually.