“G-D” AND THE MYSTERY OF THE DASH!
IN THIS BOOK you will notice that I refer to God as G-D and also YHWH. I was torn about using G-D versus God and also YHWH. In addition I struggled with the use of Yeshua (Jesus) and Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). My publisher and I wondered if Christians would stumble over these Hebrew names. But I felt a strong leading that this is to be a teachable moment for the church, and I believe the Lord showed me something.
When Mel Gibson produced The Passion of the Christ, he chose to have the actors speak the language of that time—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin—and use subtitles! Others counseled him that this was a bad idea because it would get in the way of people watching the movie. They pleaded with him to just do it in English. But he didn’t listen, and it wound up being one of the most successful Christian motion pictures of all time!
If the movie had been in English, perhaps the words spoken would have sounded simple and hokey! It would have been just another Christian movie. But by using the actual languages of the life and times of Yeshua instead, it added to the authenticity and the supernatural power of the biblical story so that the audience ultimately had a different experience, which I believe was intended by God Himself.
I shared this with my publisher and explained that concerning The Priestly Prayer of the Blessing I felt led to refer to God as G-D. We decided this note to explain the reasoning behind the unusual reference would help to clear things up for readers.
WHY OMIT THE VOWEL O?
Though I was born and raised in a completely Jewish home and then in 1974 received Yeshua as my Messiah and Lord, I don’t normally spell God as G-D. I’m very familiar with the fact that religious Jewish people are taught to respect and honor the one true G-D of Israel in this fashion for reasons you might not fully understand, but I will explain more thoroughly in this book.
One key reason is because this spelling refers back to the tetragrammaton, which depicts in Hebrew the sacred name of the one true G-D of Israel, which He gave to Moses in the Torah. The tetragrammaton contains only the consonants of G-D’s sacred name and is expressed as Y-H-W-H.
The vowels are missing so the actual pronunciation of His sacred name is not fully known. Scholars can only speculate. The sacred name refers specifically to the heavenly Father! This book is about the person of the heavenly Father making Himself known to us in an intimate, supernatural, and experiential way!
I am not asking anyone to refer this way to G-D, but again I believe this is a teachable moment.
When we as believers say we believe or trust in God, how do others interpret this? They may think we are telling about Krishna, Buddha, or some other god. But when one sees “G-D,” it unmistakably refers to the one and only true God of Israel.
A newborn baby doesn’t understand where the source of the mother’s milk would come from until the mother introduces the baby to her breast. Once the baby makes the connection, not only is the baby fed, but also a unique and precious relationship between the mother and child is established. This book introduces the reader to a new and life-changing relationship with the heavenly Father as He makes Himself available to us in a way that’s tangible.
I believe this is the time when the heavenly Father is going to make Himself known to the church in a way like never before. I believe this book is a tool He will use to help accomplish this purpose. As you read this book, every time you see our heavenly Father referred to as G-D or YHWH, my prayer is that it will be a continual reminder to you that He is seeking to reveal Himself to you in a new and deeper way. Like the hidden letters in the name, there are parts of our heavenly Father that are waiting to be revealed to you as you seek a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. It is not just knowing who our heavenly Father is; it’s getting to know Him intimately, supernaturally, and experientially in the manner He always intended!