This claim may seem incredible, even
preposterous, but scripturally true. The following discussion, supported by pertinent
passages in the Bible will show it is true.
Importance of
knowing G-d’s Name.
Some people say it is not necessary to know the Name of G-d,
because, whatever name we use, He will know that it is He we are addressing. However,
one very important reason the Creator revealed His personal Name to men through
Moses is for us not to confuse Him with false gods.
He is a jealous G-d. “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve
him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods
of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God
among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and
destroy thee from off the face of the earth” (Deut 6:13-15).
A
substitute for the Name.
The true Name of the Creator has been replaced in the Scriptures. We
read in Isaiah 42:8 – “I am the LORD:
that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to
graven images.” Obviously, “the LORD” is not a name; it is a title. “Therefore,
behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine
hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD” (Jer 16:21, etc.).
Many Bible translations follow the tradition William Tyndale started
in the 16th century which renders G-d’s name as ‘LORD’ (all
capitals) or ‘Lord’ (small
capitals). So, each time we see “the Lord”
in the Biblical text, that means it is merely a substitute for the original
Name of G-d.
Sound waves and frequencies.
Names
are words made up of letters, which are sounded through vibrations made with
the vocal chords, lips, tongue, teeth, throat, nasal cavity, lungs. Sound travels
in waves, with varying wavelengths and frequencies. Since names are normally made
up of certain combinations of letters, each name is one of a kind, with its own
set of vibrations.
Thus,
the personal Name of G-d, with its unique wavelengths and frequencies, is the only
one that resonates perfectly with His Being. By revealing His sacred Name to
men, the Creator has given us, as it were, His direct line. He has taught us
how to precisely tune in to His personal frequency, much like the way we select
a TV channel or dial a telephone number.
When
we use a different word, title, or name to call on G-d, we are tuning in to a
different frequency and, hence, could be communicating with an entity that is entirely
different from the one true G-d.
Blessings in knowing
the true Name of G-d.
The Creator promises to answer and
grant protection, honors, long life, and salvation to those who will call on
His Name. “Because he hath set his love
upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath
known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him
in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy
him, and shew him my salvation” (Ps 91:14-16).
His
Name can save the faithful even from the brink of death. “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon
me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O
LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low,
and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt
bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes
from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land
of the living” (Ps 116:3-9).
Two resurrections
Two resurrections (the dead coming back
to life) are prophesied in the Bible. “And
I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I
saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived
and reigned with Christ a thousand years… This is the first resurrection” (Rev
20:4,5b).
The second resurrection will take place
1,000 years later. “But the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished…” (Rev 20:5a). This
raises some questions: Why two resurrections? Who will be in the first and in
the second resurrections?
The “elect”.
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other” (Matt 24:31). It is the “elect” who will be taken by Christ in the first
resurrection at His Second Coming.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines
“elect” as “chosen for salvation through divine
mercy”. In this connection, Christ said in Matthew 22:14 – “For many are called, but few are chosen.” So, it seems that the
“elect” who will be taken at the first resurrection will be few in number.
Who are the
elect?
G-d said through the
prophet Isaiah: “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have
even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known
me” (Isa 45:4). Accordingly, the nation of Israel is the elect of G-d. No
other group of people is named as such in the entire Bible.
Moreover, G-d’s choice
will never change. “My covenant will I
not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips” (Ps 89:34).
144,000
Israelites.
“And I
saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God:
and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt
the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the
trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were
sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the
tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev 7:2-4). It
looks like the “elect” (or chosen few) who will receive the seal of G-d will be
made up of 144,000 Israelites.
What? You are not an Israelite or a Jew?
Well, not all is lost. There is still hope for you. Read on.
What is the
seal of God?
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the
mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s
name written in their foreheads” (Rev 14:1). It appears that the Father’s
name is the seal of G-d itself or, perhaps, the most important part of the
seal.
The Father’s Name will be “written in their foreheads”. Note that the word is “in”, not
“on”, the forehead – suggesting that the seal will be in the mind, not on the
skin of the brow. (The brain’s decision-making hub, the pre-frontal cortex, is
just behind the forehead.) Hence, having the seal “in the forehead” means the person wholeheartedly accepts and upholds
it.
The “firstfruits”.
“These are they which were not defiled with
women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God
and to the Lamb” (Rev 14:4).
The 144,000 are the “firstfruits…
redeemed from among men, ” meaning they will be in the first resurrection.
“Virgins undefiled with women”.
The phrase seems to denote unmarried
men who have not had any sexual experience with the opposite sex. Will
Israelite bachelors exclusively make up the 144,000? Let us allow the Bible itself
to interpret the mysterious metaphors in this veiled prophecy.
“Woman”.
In Biblical prophecy, a “woman” symbolizes a faith, church, or religion, as
well as its members. So, a “virgin”
(Lam 2:13, etc.) is a pure, spotless religion. On the other hand, a “harlot” or a “whore” (Rev 19:2, etc.) is a corrupt, sinful church.
Therefore, “not defiled with women” means they have not been tainted or soiled by
the erroneous teachings and practices of false churches.
“Virgin”.
Anyone – married or unmarried, young or old, male or female, with or without
children – can become a “virgin” again. How is this possible? The apostle Paul
explained: “Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new” (2 Cor 5:17).
A person becomes a “new creature” through baptism or
immersion in water. “Therefore we are
buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Rom 6:4-5). Baptism is
symbolic of burial and rebirth!
Christ emphasized the value of
baptism. “Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
So,
Israelites only? The 144,000 are from “all the tribes of the children of Israel”. That seems to leave
out Gentiles.
Paul, however, said that Gentiles can be part of the elect. “Where
there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but
Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Col 3:11-12). Gentiles
can be part of the elect through Christ!
Spiritual
Israel. We can become “naturalized” Israelites. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph
2:19). “Neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy
to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16, NIV).
We do not become Jews or Israelites physically, but spiritually – the “Israel
of God”!
“For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But
he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in
the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom 2:28-29).
