MANY IN THE church today believe that the only way to say the Messiah’s name is in English is “Jesus.” But in other nations His name is pronounced differently. Jesus’s name in Hebrew is accepted as Yeshua. In His full name and title Yeshua HaMashiach, we have a revelation of His attributes and character.
As a Jewish man I struggled with the English name, Jesus, when I became a believer. I knew He was the promised Jewish Messiah, and I accepted Him unreservedly by faith as my Messiah and Lord. But I did struggle with the English pronunciation of His name. The true horror stories of persecution of the Jewish people during pogroms, during the Crusades, and by Nazi Germany in the name of Jesus caused deep introspection and apprehension when we began singing songs of worship directly to Jesus.
As time went on, I got over my discomfort with His English name. Why? Because I intimately got to know the very person of my Messiah and Lord (Adonai). I didn’t focus on the pronunciation of the name but on the person of Jesus.
Later I discovered Messianic Jewish congregations who used the Hebrew name of Jesus—that of Yeshua—to help unsaved Jewish people who might visit their Shabbat services to understand that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah. The premise is that by using the Hebrew name of Jesus, unsaved Jewish people who connected Christians and Jesus with the Holocaust wouldn’t find belief in Messiah to be a stumbling block and instead might embrace Him as their Messiah and Lord by hearing His Hebrew name.
When I was first introduced to His Hebrew name, it was strange to me because I had by that time become familiar with the name of Jesus. I learned that the Jewish disciples called Jesus by the name of Yeshua, so as a Jew I began using His Hebrew name and found a deeper experience in my relationship with Him. Whether you like to refer to Him as Jesus or Yeshua, one truth I can attest to is that to know Yeshua is to love Him.
The formal name of the Messiah in Hebrew is actually Yahu’Shuah. At the time of Zerubbabel’s rebuilding of the second temple, the name was shortened to Y’Shuah.
In English we call our Messiah and Lord “Jesus Christ.” This is a label—an identifier—but it doesn’t convey the attributes, character, or deeper meaning behind the name itself as contained in Hebrew. The word Christ isn’t His name; it is His title.
The English translation of Jesus Christ came from the Greek, Yesous Cristos. Christ is the Greek word for messiah (HaMashiach in Hebrew) or “the anointed one.”
Yeshua (Yahu’Shuah) means “YHWH saves.” The sacred name of G-D is alluded to in Jesus’s Hebrew name! You would never know that by His English name. Yeshua came to represent the Father. In the Hebrew name Yeshua the Messiah (the Christ), we have both His divinity as the only begotten Son of YHWH and the humanity of Him as Messiah (the anointed prophet). Yeshua is 100 percent G-D and 100 percent man. Thus, within the Hebrew name this reality is expressed, but the deeper meaning of His name is lost in the English translation.
Jesus [Yeshua] said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
—JOHN 14:9
The full name of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ) means “the one true G-D saves as the anointed one—the prophet.” He has provided us with direct access to the Father, and there is never any changing of this truth. Like YHWH (YeHoVaH or YaHWeH), Yeshua’s being, nature, character, purposes, promises, and plans can be counted on, for He is faithful and true. He is the rock that we can build on, the One we can trust in this ever-changing world because He is one with the unchangeable G-D.
Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, likewise the Son does.
—JOHN 5:19
For I have not spoken on My own authority, but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
—JOHN 12:49
Yeshua was the living character of G-D the Father for us to see! The words He said and everything He did were exactly what the Father would have Him say and do.
Yeshua, the living Word, invites us to step into His yoke and fellowship with Him. His identity—His character—begins to be imparted onto us. As we get to know Him intimately. In essence we are putting on the new creation; we are taking on His character.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
—MATTHEW 11:28–30
Yeshua is saying, “Yoke yourself to Me.” He is saying that He will become the best friend you can ever have. He will not be angry with you, abusive to you, or impatient with you. The very character of the Father will begin to be imputed to you. It’s a process of dying to the old person we once were and the taking on of the new person who G-D our Father already sees us as being, as He looks at us through the nail-pierced hands of Yeshua. This is referred to as the process of sanctification.
WE’VE BEEN GIVEN A NEW NAME
In Yeshua we have been named with a new name. The name and character of our old man (nature) has been exchanged for the “breath of new life.” The apostle Paul helps us understand the importance of displaying the character of G-D for others. He said it this way:
Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
—PHILIPPIANS 3:17, KJV
This was so hard for me to grasp as I read it. I felt that I couldn’t be like Paul and tell people to be followers of Yeshua together with me. There were things in my life that I didn’t want to be responsible for others to see and imitate. I thought Paul had to be such a holy person. I didn’t understand the reality of the good news as I understand it today.
Today I can truly say to others, “Be a follower of the one true G-D as I am following Him.” Why? Because the one true G-D of Israel is the one who does the transforming. Come and yoke yourself to Yeshua as I am doing, and watch what G-D will do in your life by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh.
I can be honest with others about how I used to be overcome with bad habits and sinful, hidden thoughts and actions that I hoped no one would discover. But through the process of sanctification, I have become an overcomer! There’s hope in this journey through partnership with Him. I can be truthful and say, “Now I am struggling in this new area of my life, but He is helping me to be set free of this too. I am passing from one level of the glory onto the next.” All praise goes to the Father!
As we walk with Yeshua, we have the covering of the name (HaShem) and the actual person of G-D on us and within us, by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh.
We aren’t expected to be perfect, but we are on our way to perfection as we are yoked to Yeshua. We can call others to follow us as we follow Him! Likewise, we should seek out other believers who have overcome the issues we are facing or might still be grappling with.
While we are walking out our faith yoked to Yeshua, we can share our victories of overcoming with others, and be honest about the areas we are struggling to overcome.
Don’t hang around people who are dealing with the sins or weaknesses you want to overcome. Instead choose to fellowship with those who are an example of the Messiah Himself, those who have overcome such obstacles by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh. Once G-D empowers you to overcome your weakness or area of sin, you will be an example to others who, like yourself, need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome.
Mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
—PHILIPPIANS 3:17, KJV
I quoted this verse in the King James Version because of the word ensample. (Other translations use the word example.) Even though their definitions are similar, I believe an ensample (or sample) is more than an example. An example is a representative of a pattern or group, whereas a sample is an actual specimen or piece of the group itself. It is like the difference between a picture of a material (an example) and an actual swatch of the material (a sample), something concrete that you can feel. If you want new wallpaper, it’s one thing to look at a catalog for the right paper. But it is far better to obtain a small swatch of the actual wallpaper. You can get a better feel for what it looks like and even hold it up to the wall and get a better picture of how it will look on your wall.
There are people who are “ensamples” of Yeshua. They have come a long way in their walk, and hanging around them gives us a better idea of the reality of G-D Himself. The Holy Spirit makes the character of G-D real to us by revealing His character in the lives of others around us.
When we take the name of Yeshua upon us, we are called to be imitators of the Messiah. This doesn’t come by our striving to become more like Him, but it comes through being in relationship with Him and having His character imparted to us by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh.
The time we spend in worship, prayer, and the Word (the Bible) causes us to obtain the power to become more like Yeshua. We cannot attain His likeness on our own, but only through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh within us. This truth is evident in the Tanakh (Old Testament) as Israel tried to attain righteousness without having the Holy Spirit within. They stumbled often, but G-D’s grace was available to them for forgiveness.
How did the children of Israel obtain forgiveness? Through the sacrifices and offerings. This is the foundation of grace (unmerited favor) that was given in the old covenant, which is the same foundation of grace that we have in the new covenant.
In the church today many people try to be like Yeshua by following an old covenant form, that of traditions and outward rules, plus denominational doctrines of men. It’s just not possible! It is only through an intimate relationship with Yeshua and by the power of the Holy Spirit within that you can begin to accomplish the impossible.
There are over 1,050 commandments in the New Testament. That’s far more than the 613 commandments that the rabbis identified in the Tanakh (Old Testament). If you add on top of that the catechisms, the various denominational doctrines like those of Wesley, Calvin, and the numerous commentaries present in the various denominations of the church today, we can be easily overwhelmed.
Today in the church these man-made doctrines, added rules and regulations, have become more important to many than the Word of G-D itself! Theologians argue over these various doctrines of men. It makes the Pharisees of the old covenant look like “hyper grace” teachers by comparison. Most of the things in greatest contention between the various denominations aren’t even in the Bible itself.
Before I accepted Yeshua as my Messiah and Lord, I would dialogue with a man named Richard Gallagher who had a table in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City to compel people to sign his petition. I would pass his table every day on my way to catch a bus back to Linden, New Jersey. During the time I was attending the School of Visual Arts and my job as a film producer, cinematographer, and editor on Madison Avenue, I would daily interact with Richard, who was collecting signatures from people against abortion in order to solicit Congress to pass an amendment to reverse Roe v. Wade (the law that made abortion legal by the rule of the US Supreme Court.)
Richard was a Catholic believer, and I was an avowed liberal agnostic Jew at the time. I would often stop to debate religion with him. He was not polite to me. He argued incessantly with me. I would play the devil’s advocate sometimes just to tweak him and provoke him to anger. Yet he knew his Bible and was able to stand his ground.
One day as I was talking with Richard, a Protestant Christian came up to the table and heard our conversation. This man had no idea that I wasn’t a believer. He and Richard got into an argument about the mode of baptism. Richard said the Catholic Church performs infant baptism, while the other man said that baptism should only be performed when a person makes a decision to accept Jesus (Yeshua) as Lord. They got into a shouting match with each other. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I spoke up in frustration, “The two of you are supposed to be Christians, but you can’t agree with one another. How do you expect me, a Jew, to ever follow this man called Jesus when His church is in such a mess? You two are a perfect example of how screwed up religion is, and I don’t want to have any part of it.” I walked away from the two as they both stared at me in silence. Suddenly I felt a light touch on my shoulder. I turned around, and it was the man who had been arguing with Richard. He was teary-eyed as he began to speak.
“I’m a born-again Christian, and I want to apologize to you for what I did. If I had known you were searching, I would have never argued doctrine with that other fellow in front of you.”
“That man’s name is Richard, and he’s really an OK guy,” I said, defending him. But I was deeply touched by this man’s sincerity.
“You see, you were totally right to say what you did to us,” he continued. “But please don’t judge my Lord and Savior Jesus by the way we acted. He is the only One who is perfect. There is nobody like Him. And without Jesus in my life, I would not be alive today, standing in front of you.”
I never gave that man the satisfaction of knowing how his words impacted me. But the schism between the various denominations over doctrines of men is robbing the world of truly understanding that the one true G-D wants us to intimately know Him.
THE POWER OF PRAYING IN YESHUA’S NAME
I will do whatever you ask in My name, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
—JOHN 14:13
Many interpret this as if there is magic in the name of Yeshua. There is power in the name of Yeshua. But praying in His name means something far more!
What if we properly interpret the English word name from the Hebrew and Greek and substitute it for the word name in this verse?” It would read:
I will do whatever you ask in My character, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask G-D for something that is not in His character, you can be sure He will not do it. If you do receive what you asked for, but it is against that which G-D calls holy, then you didn’t get it from G-D; you got it from the enemy.
How did Yeshua glorify the Father? By doing the things the Father would have done on earth, by remaining consistent with the Father’s character.
The Greek word for name (onoma) used in John 14:13 is consistent with the Hebrew word shem. Onoma means “the manifestation or revelation of someone’s character so as to distinguish them from all others.” Thus “praying in the name of Yeshua (Jesus)” means to pray as directed (authorized) by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of His being when you are in His presence. Let me repeat that with strong emphasis on one particular part of the definition: Praying in the name of Yeshua means to pray as directed by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of His being when you are in His presence!
Through being yoked to Him, you will receive communication from the Ruach HaKodesh to help you know what to do as you face various situations! When you pray, it’s as if Yeshua Himself is praying through you.
“Praying in the name of Yeshua,” therefore, is not a religious formula just to end prayers, or a magic word to get what we want! Praying in His name is praying in His actual person, with His holy character and in His power and authority. If G-D answers your prayer, then He is the One who receives all the glory, not you!
In Hebraic thinking, a name isn’t a label or a tool merely used to distinguish one person from another. A person’s name is viewed as equivalent to the person himself. A person’s name signifies their person, worth, character, reputation, authority, will, and ownership. Everything they have and everything they are is reflected in their name.
Scripture records an account of some men who thought the name of Yeshua (Jesus) was a mystical formula or even magic. They thought they could use the name of Yeshua apart from pursuing an intimate relationship with Him.
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists invoked the name of the Lord Jesus over those had evil spirits, saying, “We command you to come out in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
—ACTS 19:13
You see, they didn’t know Yeshua. They were trying to take authority over evil spirits by saying the name of Yeshua—the person Paul preached about.
There were seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva doing this. The evil spirit answered, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”
—ACTS 19:14–15
The evil spirits recognized that these men had no authority because they were trying to use the name of Yeshua as a magic formula. But when we take authority in the name of Yeshua, what is actually happening is we are coming in Yeshua’s actual person, with His holy character and with His power and authority. We are the vessels being used by Yeshua Himself to flow through and cast the demons out.
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was jumped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.
—ACTS 19:16
The evil spirit, knowing that these men had no authority, came out of the one possessed and leaped upon them, tearing their clothes off and wounding them. What a great scene in a movie this would make. I can see these men running out with clothes ripped, bruised from the beating they took, and shouting, “Let’s get out of here!”
Although they attempted to cast out an evil spirit in the right name, because they were not believers who knew Him as their Messiah and Lord and did not represent His person, they were in effect attempting to cast out the evil spirits in their own authority and their own works, and they were not successful.
The evil spirit recognized this and would not submit. There is no magical power in just saying, “in Jesus’s name,” or “in the name of Yeshua.” But when we truly understand that the power of G-D comes when we are agents for His person to flow through, then we will see miracles, healings, and deliverance begin to flow as a normal part of our spiritual walk.
I want to be careful not to let the enemy use what I am saying to discourage you from praying for others for their healing. If you have prayed in Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) name over people before (without realizing the fullness of what this means), don’t allow the enemy to place condemnation upon you. Many first-time believers pray for people in the streets and the one true G-D of Israel is gracious because His heart is to see people saved, healed, and set free. The truth is G-D will use a donkey if He wants to deliver a message to someone as He did with Balaam! (See Numbers 22:21–39.)
We read how the apostle Peter took no credit when G-D moved through him and John to heal the sick.
Now Peter and John went up together to the [holy] temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. A man lame from birth was being carried, whom people placed daily at the gate of the temple called Beautiful to ask alms from those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. Peter, gazing at him with John, said, “Look at us.” So he paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Then Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ [Yeshua the Messiah] of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” He took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened. Jumping up, he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising [G-D]. All the people saw him walking and praising [G-D]. They knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him.
—ACTS 3:1–10
Peter prayed for the man in the name of Yeshua, and the man was healed. The man followed Peter and John into the holy temple in Jerusalem. The people gathered there were amazed because they recognized him as the man who sat crippled for years in front of the gate called Beautiful. They wanted an explanation as to what happened.
Peter could have said, “I am the mighty man of G-D who prayed in the name of Yeshua and he was healed. Everyone else here needs me to pray for you.” But instead Peter said:
Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Or why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The [G-D] of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the [G-D] of our fathers, has glorified His Son [Yeshua], whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Creator of Life, whom [G-D] has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His [Yeshua’s] name, by faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. And faith which comes through Him has given him perfect health in your presence.
—Acts 3:12–16 Peter took no credit at all for the healing that took place; he gave G-D all the glory. That’s because He prayed in the shem (name) of Yeshua, not in the “magic” name of Yeshua, but as Yeshua’s representative, allowing the person, authority, and power of Yeshua to heal this man.
The point I want to leave you with is, if we could truly grasp this biblical truth as believers in Messiah, then people in wheelchairs would begin praying for others in wheelchairs in the name of Yeshua. The lame would walk! Blind people would pray for others who are blind, and the blind would see! What if those of us who are under the new covenant began to understand that it isn’t about us? We are just the vessels allowing the person of G-D Himself to flow through us. Imagine a man who is deaf praying for a woman who cannot hear and seeing her healed. It will demonstrate that it is G-D alone who did the healing, and He will receive all the glory and honor.
Yeshua by example said:
For I have not spoken on My own authority, but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
—JOHN 12:49
In other words, when we start understanding that we are only “the vessels” for G-D Himself to flow through, then no matter who we are—man, woman, young, old, healthy, or handicapped—G-D will use us as His representatives on earth to demonstrate His glory and power.
The reason many believers aren’t walking in the supernatural power of G-D is because many don’t feel worthy to be used of Him in this way. The truth is none of us is worthy enough. But G-D wants to use you if you are willing to be the one who will pray in His person, with His holy character, and with His power and authority, and will make sure that He gets all the glory and honor!
Our English Bibles use Lord (from the Hebrew word Adonai), but now you know that the real word used in the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing is His sacred name.
[YHWH, YeHoVaH, YaHWeH, your heavenly Father] bless you and keep you; [YHWH, YeHoVaH, YaHWeH, your heavenly Father] make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; [YHWH, YeHoVaH, YaHWeH, your heavenly Father] lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
—NUMBERS 6:24–26
Now that you have an understanding of the powerful meaning of the name of G-D and the name of Yeshua, we are ready to move on to the next section of this book where we will break down the Priestly Prayer of the Blessing and reveal its deeper, hidden meaning as conveyed in the original Hebrew.
KEYS TO THE BLESSING
In Yeshua we have been named with a new name. The name and character of our old man (nature) has been exchanged for the “Breath of New Life.”
STUDY QUESTIONS
What is Jesus’s Hebrew name? What is the meaning of His Hebrew name?
What does it mean for us to pray in Yeshua’s name?