Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement (EESNM)
Paul
Wong
For the purpose of clarification I have divided the Sacred
Name Movement into three groups. All
three have the common belief in the Creator’s Hebrew name as “Yahweh” and the Savior’s Hebrew name as “Yahshua”.
1.
Extreme
Exclusive Sacred Name Group
believes using the Hebrew Sacred Names is for salvation. Those that do not use them will be
damned. They do not accept the use of
the Greek/English transliterated name of “Jesus”. They reject the English
words for God, Lord, Christ, Christian, etc.
2.
Exclusive
Sacred Name Group has the
same beliefs as the first group.
Although they use the Sacred Names exclusively themselves but they do
not condemn others that do not share their beliefs. They do not use any transliterated names of the Savior.
3.
Sacred
Name Group uses the
sacred names for their private worship and prayer. They believe using the Sacred Names is mainly for enhancing the
quality of their worship and prayer and it has nothing to do with salvation. They use the transliterated name of “Jesus” in
Greek/English and
other languages depending on the ethnic background and culture. They also
accept and use the English words for God,
Lord, Christ, Christian, etc.
I have
never joined any Sacred Name group but I can relate to the third group. The reason for my writing this article is
because I have just received three emails this morning (July 11, 2002), two of
them made adverse comments on my position in the Sacred Name Movement. My position is this. I knew the Hebrew word for God is “Elohim”
a long time ago, but I only
came to the knowledge of His Son’s Hebrew name “Yahshua”
in the early 1980’s after our family moved from Bakersfield,
California to Houston, Texas.
I did not join any organization like Assemblies
of Yahweh or Sacred Name groups to receive the truth of the Hebrew name "Yahshua". The Holy Spirit
revealed it to me in a spiritual song. I was praying one morning and was
filled with the Holy Spirit who gave me a very beautiful song. I began to
praise the Lord by singing "Hallelu-Yahshua . . ." That was
nearly 20 years ago. Since that time I praise Yahshua in my
prayers. I also preach the name of Yahshua. From experience I truly
testify that using the name of “Yahshua” in prayer improved my
worship and personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. It is not a condition for salvation. We have held "T.R.U.E. in
Yahshua" conferences in Houston, Texas for several years. Go to the T.R.U.E. in Yahshua web site:
à 
Now I am going to discuss those emails without
divulging the names of the senders because I want to be objective in my
response.
Email #1
Subject
Title: Thanks
- I appreciate your stand!
Hi,
I just was reading a letter in between you and another place
that was
upset because you do not use the name Y'shua all the time.
I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your
stand. I am not a SN
person - I am a Sabbath keeper etc. I have been enjoying some of the
things
you send out however - and read them because of the fact that you don't hold
the blasphemous doctrine that "to be saved you must say Yahshua".
In Him,
- - - - - - - -
Paul Wong’s Response to Email #1
HalleluYah, Praise the
Lord,
I want to thank our Lord
Jesus Christ for guiding you to write this email. He knows I need encouragement because I have come under vicious
attacks recently because of my stand regarding the Sacred Name issue. Thank you, Brother. I am glad that you enjoyed some of the
things that I send out. I really enjoy
sending them out too. This ARK Forum is
growing from strength to strength and I give all the glory and praise to our
Lord Jesus Christ.
The
doctrine “to be saved you must say Yahshua” is not only blasphemous but also
heretical. Salvation is in the Person
of the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on Calvary, and not in the
spelling of His Hebrew name. I
personally prefer to use the spelling “Yahshua” because
that was the pronunciation I received in my revelation. Besides, it also helps me preach the
connection between the name “Yahshua” and salvation. Please see my two web sites concerning the name “Yahshua”.
1. http://www.oocities.org/ark_pw/Fellowship/Yahshua.html
2. http://www.oocities.org/nameabove/
Today
we find most Messianic Jews either spell His name “Yeshua”
or “Y’shua” and
He still responds to their call. I fully accept their spelling of the Messiah’s
name.
Email #2
Subject
Title: Knowingly
commiting Sin
Knowingly committing Sin:
Dear brothers
and sisters in Messiah,
This is a good
example that I am going to show you with recorded evidence.
Paul Wong is
writing to me that he got the revelation on the Sacred Name 20 years ago in a
prayer. He says that it is the true name of Elohim. But he uses it in his
prayers and other places: When I asked him a question about this issue: He is
telling me that I am preaching false doctrine. Whether he is false or I am
false you only examine.
Even though the
Holy Spirit reveled him the true name 20 years ago, he simply disdaining it and
doing as he wishes and again blaming others those who preach the truth as
false. See what a hypocrisy it is!
Yours in His
service
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Paul Wong’s Response to Email #2
I place this writer in the
EESNM group (please see title of this article). He is an extremist and an exclusivist. He claimed that the Holy Spirit revealed to him “NEVER
COMPROMISE.” He would do anything to
propagate his teachings. In this email
he did not get the facts right. He is
either very confused about the issue or he does not know the truth. Here is what I wrote to him.
Brother - - - -, both you
and I have common beliefs. We both believe YAHWEH is the name of our heavenly
Father and YAHSHUA is the Hebrew name of our Savior. We both believe in the same
truths but we differ in the application of the truths. You believe
and teach that unless a believer uses the names YAHWEH and YAHSHUA exclusively they
cannot be saved. This dogmatic teaching is false. I believe
and teach the sacred names of YAHWEH and YAHSHUA are to be used
for worship. Transliteration of these names such as the Greek/English JESUS, Chinese YESU, YASO, YESOU, etc may also be used in
different countries and cultures. Using transliteration of the
names is not a compromise but a necessity because of linguistic and
phonetic requirements.
Please
see my web site for explanation: --> http://www.oocities.org/nameabove
In
the Japanese Bible our Savior's name is pronounced YESU.
The written language form is "Katakana" and the script form is called
"Hiragana". There is no character with the sound "Shua".
When you mentioned the name "YESU"
to Christians in Japan they know who you are talking about. There is no
mistake that "YESU'
is the Son of God, the Savior, the Redeemer, the One who died on the Cross for
our sins. Believing in "YESU" will
save a person in Japan.
In
the United States of America when you talk about "JESUS"
everyone knows you are talking about the same "YAHSHUA"
that you and I believe to be our Savior. Salvation is received by
those who believe in the PERSON of YAHSHUA,
JESUS, YESU,
YASO, YESOU
(Acts 10:31). Salvation does not depend in the pronunciation or
spelling of the name of the Savior, but faith in the Person JESUS
Himself. Brother ------, you are preaching a false doctrine that leads
people to damnation. You are preaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9)
Repent of your sins before it too late. May Yahweh guide you.
This person
does not write the truth, or he simply twists the truth. Here is what he writes about me ----- “he simply
disdaining it and doing as he wishes and again blaming others those who preach
the truth as false. See what a hypocrisy it is!” I have never disdained the truth about the Hebrew name of
the Savior is “Yahshua”, but I
utterly refute the false doctrine he preaches that unless a believer uses the
Hebrew names of “Yahweh” and
“Yahshua” they are not saved. That is downright heresy. This doctrine is invented by the devil and
comes from the depths of hell.
The meaning
of hypocrisy in religion is not practicing what one preaches. I have never at any time believed or
preached that one must use the Sacred Names in order to be saved. I still do not do so, and I strongly oppose
such vicious lies and heresies! This is
not hypocrisy, but standing firmly and resolutely in the truth.
This
second writer tries to intimidate me with punishment from God. Here is the conclusion of his email:
***
This is the thing going on with people/preachers like Paul Wong and others.
Heb
10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins,
Heb
10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Luk
12:47 And that servant, which knew his Sovereign's
will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be
beaten with many stripes.
Here’s
Paul Wong’s Response
The Bible
clearly defines sin as “transgression of the law” (1 Jn. 3:4). Please show me which law states
that all believers in the world must use the Hebrew names “Yahweh” and “Yahshua”? Is it the will of our heavenly Father that
everyone must address Him as “Yahweh”? Please show just one verse in the New
Testament that our Savior or any of the apostles ever addressed God as “Yahweh”
in their prayers? Did our Lord
and the apostles sinned because they did not say “Yahweh”? Absolutely not! Did St. Luke sin because he wrote the gospel and the Acts of the
Apostles using the Greek name of the Savior “Iesous”? Did the apostle Paul commit sin when he
actually knew the Hebrew name of his Savior is “Yahshua”
and still wrote several epistles to the Greek churches in the Greek
language using the Greek name of his Savior “Iesous”? Did the apostle John sinned when he wrote
to the seven Greek churches in Revelation using the Greek name of the Savior “Iesous”? You know what? I would rather be in the company of the apostles than with the
Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement (EESNM). You don’t scare me one bit.
You yourself should be scared to death – preaching false doctrines and
proclaiming sin and punishment on saints that are doing God’s will.
The devil
makes false accusations and intimidates the saints day and night (Rev. 12:10). In the mighty name of Yahweh, Yahshua ha
Messiah (Lord Jesus Christ) I rebuke him.
Go to hell!!!
Writer #2’s Email #2
My reply to your booklet
Mr. Frank M. Walker,
I have gone through your booklet cover to cover
“
Sacred Names Truth or Error? ” One
Language more sacred than others?
The Bible says, only
the Satanic Fellows can rebel against the TRUTH, 2 .Tim 3:8. Yahshua came to this world to bear the
witness to the truth, John 18:37. Everyone that is of truth hears His voice.
When the Spirit of Truth comes he leads us into all the truth, John 16:13.
If you are a
perverter of truth then there is a problem with you everywhere.
There is no confusion
in using the sacred name, but there is a lot of confusion if the name changes
in every language. Your name is Frank M. Walker, please let me know what is
your transiliterated name in Hebrew, Greek, and in Aramic? Don’t say Frank M.
Walker. Say in transliterated language.
In Your book you
Wrote about these Languages. Now you tell me the answer.
Hebrew
.........Yahshua Messiah.......Your Name: Frank M. Walker
Japanese........ , , ?
Dutch............ , , ?
Russia........... , , ?
German........ , , ?
French......... , , ?
English........ , , ?
Hindu.......... , , ?
Spanish................., , ?
Italian
.................., ,
?
Chinese............... ,
, ?
Egyptian..............., , ?
Now you tell me what
is your transliterated name in all the above Languages? What is your confusion?
Who is confusing? Messiah is not the
author of confusion 1.Cor 14:33. Church of God people and all those who speak
against Sacred names are perverters of truth. There is no Spirit of Truth in
you to accept the truth. Why are you writing useless booklets and sending to
India to pervert the Indians?
In English grammar
there is a rule: Proper nouns cannot be translated but has to retain as it is.
It should be pronounced as it is. If you have at least COMMON SENSE you can
understand this.
You are only worrying
about your mission but not for truth.
Believe the Sacred
Name pronounce it and promote it, that is good.
Don’t fight against
Sacred Names you will be punished soon. `
Lev
24:16 And he that blasphemeth the name of Yahweh, he shall surely be put to
death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the
stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of
Yahweh, shall be put to death.
In the Name of
Yahshua Messiah
Yours
in His service
-
- - - - - - - - -
PS:
The same reply apply to Mr. Forest Witney who wrote another booklet of the same
“ A Sacred Language? “
Here’s Paul Wong’s Response
I tried to
locate Mr. Frank M. Walker and also Mr. Forest Witney through the Internet but
was unsuccessful. Can anyone who knows
their whereabouts please forward this email to them.
The writer
was trying to tell us that transliteration of names is an absurdity or
impossibility. It is a very common
thing. Let me give you an example. In the United States my official name is
Paul Wong. I have Chinese ancestry and
I am going to give you my name in four Chinese dialect transliterations. Chinese always place the family name
first. In Mandarin Chinese I am known
as “Huang Pau Law”. In Cantonese I am
called “Wong Pou Law”. In Hakka they
call me “Wong Pau Law”. In Hokkien
(Taiwanese) I am known as “Ng Po Lo”.
Why are there so many different pronunciations? They are just dialects that have been
developed in different parts of China.
There are hundreds of Chinese dialects.
It does not make any difference what dialect transliteration people call
me. They know me and I know they are
calling me. Transliteration is an
accepted practice by all people all over the world. My Japanese friends in Japan would call me “Oo-o-ng Po-Ro”. They do not have the direct phonetic alphabets
for Wong and no “L” sounds in their spoken language for Paul. Do I have my name in Japanese? Sure, I do!
Transliteration
of our Savior’s name has been used in Bible translations in more than 700
languages. I have checked with
Crosswalk.com on our Savior’s name in various languages. I want to emphasize these are not transliterations
printed by the Sacred Name Publishers that are biased and inaccurate. These are transliterations by world
recognized language experts.
|
Hebrew |
Yahshua Messiach |
Italian |
Gesu Cristo |
|
Greek |
Iesous Christos |
Afrikaans |
Jesus Christus |
|
English |
Jesus Christ |
Czech |
Jezis Kristus |
|
Dutch |
Jezus Christus |
Hungarian |
Jezus Krisztus |
|
German |
Jesus Christus |
Tagalog |
Jesus Kristo |
|
French |
Jesus Christ |
Yiddish |
Jesus Kristus |
|
Spanish |
Jesus Cristo |
Turkish |
Isa Mesih |
Transliteration of our Savior’s
name have existed centuries before His birth in Bethlehem. The Septuagint Bible has the transliterated
Greek name of “Joshua”. Pilate wrote the
transliterated Greek and Latin names of our Savior on the cross where He was
crucified (Jn. 19:19-20)
Email #3
Subject
Title: Names
of Creator and Savior
Dear Mr. Wong:
One of your writings
has been forwarded to me, in which you state that you use the Name Yahshua in
worship, but still use God, the Lord, etc. also.
I would just point
out Isaiah 65:11, which says that God worshippers are those who have forsaken
Yahweh. (Yes, "that troop" in the KJV is God or Gad or Gawd, all
pronounced the same, in Hebrew.)
"To him who
knoweth to do good and does it not, to him it is sin."
What about the
Sabbath? Are you a Sabbath keeper? If so, do you also accept Sunday worshippers
without pointing out their error? Same thing with His Name.
When the Name was
revealed to you 20 years ago, you apparently did not fully realize its
importance. Nor do you seem to even now.
I intend to check out
your web page ASAP. Mine is as follows:
www.search-the-scriptures.org/
Shalom,
-
- - - - - - -
Here’s Paul Wong’s Response to Email #3
I
want to be absolutely truthful in my position on the Sacred Name issue. Yes, I do use the Name “Yahshua”
in my worship.
I have also preached the Name “Yahshua”
before congregations in public. I want
to emphasize that “Yahshua”
is a Hebrew name that can be meaningful and
accepted by everyone in a Messianic Jewish congregation. I was brought up in a Chinese congregation
in Malaysia, and even here in America the composition of our congregants in
various cities are predominantly Chinese (more than 90%). Although my sermons are delivered in English
yet they have to be translated into Chinese (Mandarin) because not everyone can
understand English. We use the New King
James Bible and Chinese bibles. None of
our bibles have the Hebrew names such as “Elohim”,
“Yahweh” or “Yahshua.” The
main emphasis of our beliefs are centered in the Person of our Lord Jesus
Christ, His atoning death, His sacrifice, His shed blood, His love, mercy and
grace. Yes, I do preach and teach the
name of “Yahshua”
but it is not centered on its Hebraic origin,
its spelling, whether with a “Y” or “J”.
Who cares if there is no “J” in the English or Greek alphabets before
500 years ago? It is not the “Y” or “J”
that saves us. It is the One True God
who manifested Himself in the flesh and came to die in our place and shed His
precious blood to wash away sins. That
is all that matters in our salvation.
The Person of “Yahshua” Himself,
not the way you pronounce His name or the way you spell His name that
saves.
“To
Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him
will receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43)
This verse says nothing about His name must be
in the Hebraic form, it must be spelt with a “Y” and pronounced in a certain
way with a certain accent. When you
place emphasis, focus and give so much importance on the linguistic, spelling
and ethnic aspect of the name you have completely missed its real essence. You may have made the name “Yahshua”
into an idol. Anything that takes the place of “Yahshua”
Himself is an idol. None of the unspiritual things in the name can save or remit your
sins. It is through His name, whoever believes in Him
will receive remission of sins.” Amen,
brother!
Extreme
Exclusive Sacred Name adherents have completely missed the true essence of the
Savior’s name. It is the Person “Yahshua”
who saves, and not the spelling and
pronunciation of the name. Remember
that! “And
he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts. 16:30-31) I know that I
am definitely saved because I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Can we use the words “God” and “Lord”?
I am not an expert in theology or in the English
language, so I shall be quoting an article that gives us the derivation of the
word “God” in our English Bibles.
Web Site: à http://www.logon.org/english/S/p220.html
The
Etymology of the Name of God
Objections
to the use of the word “God” stem from the understanding that the
Babylonian deity of fortune was Baal-Gad (pronounced gawd). It is then assumed that the term is pagan if
the word God is used.
The
term God in the ancient Anglo-Saxon comes from the word Goode, or
Goot as in the Dutch and German. The word is actually a Hebrew word from
which gad itself in the sense of SHD 1410 is derived. The word is SHD
1464 Guwd (pronounced goode). The tribes of Israel, when taken
into captivity, took with them this name. It was used also by the Assyrians who
captured them. It is a prime root meaning to crowd upon or attack
and this means to invade or to overcome. It is this sense of
overcoming, as God is the center of power, that the term is used. Guwd
or Goode is not the same as gad or Baal-Gad worshipped by
the Babylonians. One is a perversion of the concepts of the other.
The
word God is derived from the old Teutonic form gudo which means that
which is invoked (or worshipped) by sacrifice (cf. Oxford English
Universal Dictionary, art. God, p. 808). This was adapted
among the Teutonic tribes in the variant forms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some argue
that “God” is a word that is used by
pagans to refer to idols. That is true. Pagans who used the Hebrew or Aramaic
language also called their idols by Hebrew names — such as “Elohim”,
“El”, "Eloah” and “Elah” (Gen
35:2; Josh. 24:15) — but Yahweh, or the LORD, inspired his prophets to apply
the same names to Him. This shows that it is not wrong to refer to the true God
by the same words that the pagans misused in reference to their idols. If EESNM want to be strict about it and use
the same judgment that they have against the English word “God” they
should throw away or burn every Sacred Name Bible that have the word “Elohim”. Would they?
The
Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement is Doomed for Failure
Uncertainty
of the Correct Name
I have
many problems with the confusion and inconsistencies of the Extreme Exclusive
Sacred Name Movement (EESNM). During
the early years of my discovery of the name “Yahshua”
I tried to learn about this movement as
much as possible. There is one
congregation called Assembly of Yahvah in Emory, Texas that I visited. I spend some time with their leader who explained
to me the true name of the Creator is “Yahvah”
and “Yahweh” is wrong. That was a shock to me.
As time went on I learned there are many EESNM groups giving the Creator
names with different spellings and pronunciations. As you may know, there are many variations of the
sacred name: Yah, Yahweh, Yahvah, Yahveh, Jehovah, Yahovah, Yahoweh, Yahovah,
Yahuweh, Yahuveh, Yahuvah, Jeova, Jehofah, Geova, Ihowa, Iahueh, Yaohu, etc.
According
to the Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name groups unless one uses the Hebrew name and
only the Hebrew name for God that person will be eternally damned. It should be noted that not all of the
Sacred Name teachers are so dogmatic, but most are. This exclusive view is held
by many Sacred Name groups, however they do not know the original pronunciation
of the Name, they are in much disarray as well. This is admitted not by their
own words but by the variety of different names that are used within their
movement. The Extreme Exclusive Sacred
Name Movement (EESNM) is in a cauldron of mass confusion. Can anyone be absolutely certain of the
correct spelling and pronunciation of our Creator’s name? If not, how can these EESNM adherents
condemn anyone for not using His Hebrew name?
There is
also much variation in our Savior’s name.
“Yahshua” is agreed
by most EESNM folks. But some call him Yasha, by others Yeshua, Yahushua,
Yaohushua, Iahushua, YAHVAHSHUA, and Yhwhhoshua. How do you know which of the Savior’s name is the correct
one? Remember they teach you must be
exact in your pronunciation. So which Sacred Name group is not going to hell
for the correct pronunciation? There
are dozens of different spellings and pronunciations of the names used by those
who claim to have the correct name. All
of them promote their particular name as the only one God approves of. There are only two possibilities. The first possibility is that only one of
the names is correct. Which one? The other possibility is that none of them
are correct. There is so much
confusion in this movement that you can say that it is definitely not of
God. “For
God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the
saints.” (1 Cor. 14:33)
God’s
Name is exalted in Languages of the World
The reason
for so much confusion, disarray, disunity and conflicts within the Extreme
Exclusive Sacred Name Movement (EESNM) is because there is little or no
guidance from God through the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “But the Helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (Jn.
14:26) “However, when He, the Spirit of
truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears
He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He
will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (Jn. 16:13-14) On the Day of Pentecost God
poured out of His Spirit on the disciples of Christ
“And
they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance. And
there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under
heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were
confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. . . . And how
is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? . . . .
Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful
works of God.” (Acts. 2:4-11)
These were
all Jews hearing the message of God in the various languages of different
nations of the world. What does this
miracle indicate? It certainly does not
show that God wanted all the different nations to exalt Him only in the Hebrew
language. God has shown the disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ that His name must be exalted in different languages
of the world.
What a
great contrast to the EESNM’s manifesto to have all the people of the world
using only the Hebrew language to exalt God.
EESNM’s insistence on using only the Hebrew names and words for the
Creator and the Savior was never in God’s plan at all. Anything that is not in accordance with
God’s will and has never been approved by Him would fail. That is exactly what happened to EESNM. Utter Failure!
Hebrew
names not in the New Testament
First,
Hebrew names or titles for God are not found in the New Testament. It is
therefore supposed by adherents of the Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement
(EESNM) that there must have been a different original, a non-Greek
version. There is none!
The New
Testament uses the Greek “Theos” for “God” 1,345 times
and “Kyrios” for “Lord”
665 times! There is no New Testament manuscript in which Hebrew names for God
are used instead of these Greek words.
The
foundation of the Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement (EESNM) is the use of
the Hebrew names of the Creator and the Savior. Since the New Testament do not have the Hebrew names the movement
have nothing to stand on. This movement
is a sham, a big lie.
Insurmountable
Obstacles in World Languages
If EESNM
object to the English word “God” what
about other languages that describe the Deity? We should look at this issue
from an international perspective. The
word “God” is not a proper noun or personal name of the Almighty. It is a word to describe the Creator. Here is what I look at from a Chinese
viewpoint. There are three versions of
Chinese Bibles that have different terminologies describing the Deity. The Roman Catholics use the “Tien-Chu” version,
meaning “Lord of Heaven”. The
Protestant churches use the “Shang-Ti” version,
which means “Highest Ruler” and the third version is “Chen-Shen” which
means “True God”. Our congregation uses
the version with the “True God”.
Right now there is no Sacred Name version of the Chinese Bible. Even if
there is, it is impossible to change the Chinese language and hundreds of
Chinese dialects to have the Hebrew names of the Creator and Savior. It does not appear that EESNM will be able
to have any presence in China or even amongst the Chinese Christians outside of
China. I am talking about just one ethnic race with 1.3 billion people in the
world. We have not even begun to
discuss the insurmountable obstacles EESNM would face in other countries.
The
Test of the True Movement of God is in its Fruit
In His
discourse on the Second Coming our Lord Jesus Christ have stated:
“All
these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to
tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's
sake. And then many will be offended,
will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the
love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end
will come.” (Mt. 24:8-11)
This
prophecy may be applied to this issue of whether or not Christians can use the
transliteration of the Greek/English name “JESUS”. Normally non-EESNM
Christians have not prohibited nor opposed anyone for
using our Lord’s Hebrew name“Yahshua”.
They have not hated anyone for using it or feel offended by its use. On the other hand EESNM adherents have been
very intolerant and hateful towards Christians that use the Greek/English name “JESUS”,
titles such as “Lord”, “Christ” and
“Christians”. There is
no question who are the offenders.
They are very hateful of Christians because there is little or no
Christian love in them. Let me cite an
actual case in Houston, Texas.
There
is an African-American couple here in Houston that I know. The husband is
a very strict Sacred Name user. He forced his wife to use the Sacred Name
but she did not think it is important to do so. The husband was unbending
and he divorced his wife. They did not talk to one another for many
years. I used to hold Sabbath fellowships in the afternoon in IHOP
(International House of Pancakes) because they allow us to use their meeting
room. One Saturday afternoon the husband came with his group. The
wife, without any knowledge of her ex-husband's presence, also came to our
fellowship because the LORD gave her a dream that she should go to IHOP which
she interpreted as "In His Omnipotent Presence". The estranged
couple met for the first time after many years. I didn't know that they
were married and divorced before. In fact that was the first time that I
met both of them. I explained to the Fellowship our position regarding
the name of “Yahshua.”
It is the Hebrew name of our Savior. It is a very special
name. I explained that it is not wrong to use the Greek/English name of "Jesus".
Both the husband and the wife agreed to our position. They communicated
with one another again.
Let me clarify that not all Sacred Name adherents
are unloving. Some are good Christians
(although they may not like this terminology). In the beginning paragraph of this article I have shown three
groups. I am discussing the Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement (EESNM)
adherents that are very deceptive and unloving towards those that do not share
their views. It fits the description of our Lord's prophecy: "Then many false
prophets will rise up and deceive many.
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
(Mt. 24:11-12) They certainly have no
Christian love for those that use the Greek/English name of "Jesus”. We need to be very careful of them. How do we know who they are? “Therefore by their fruits you
will know them.” (Mt. 7:20)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are
some problematic questions for those that teach we cannot use the Greek/English name of
our Savior JESUS.
2. Does our Savior have His name written in Latin and Greek besides Hebrew? The answer is yes. Read this:
"Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing
was:
JESUS OF
NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS
Then many of
the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the
city; and it was written in Hebrew,
Greek and Latin." (Jn. 19:19-20)
2. What
language did the apostle Paul use in writing the letters to the Roman Church
and the Greek Churches? The answer is simple. He wrote Latin to the
Romans and Greek to the Greek Churches. The name of the Savior is "Iesous"
in Greek. That is how we get the transliteration of the English name JESUS which is derived from
the Greek name.
3. Did our Lord
Jesus Christ speak Greek? Answer is YES. He said: "I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,' says the Lord, 'who is
and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Rev. 1:8)
"Alpha" [ 
]
is the first letter and "Omega" [ 
] is the last
letter in the Greek Alphabet. The apostle John wrote the book of
Revelation in the Greek island of Patmos and it was written in the Greek
language. How do we know that? The Lord Jesus Christ told him: "What
you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia:
to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia,
and to Laodicea." (Rev. 1:11) All
these seven churches speak, write and read Greek and the name of JESUS
in the book of Revelation is in the Greek language.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
Extreme Exclusive Sacred Name Movement (EESNM) is a dead movement.
Why? The reasons are given above.
Adherents of this movement are not applying the truth in the correct
way. Forcing believers all over the world to use the Hebrew name of “YAHSHUA”
is not a command of God. It was never practiced
in the Early Apostolic Church because it could never be practiced in every
country of the world.
I
am praying that all the EESNM adherents that read this email on this web site
will repent of their errors. I am
praying for the salvation of their souls, and also for the salvation of the people
they are misleading, to abandon this senseless, dogmatic, heretical "EESNM"position that they hold. That revelation
"NEVER COMPROMISE" is wrongly applied to a false doctrine that leads
people to damnation. May the good Lord help them.
The
name of “YAHSHUA”
is “the name which is above
every name.” I love it very
much and I use it daily in my private devotions, but I also use the Greek/English
transliteration of the name “JESUS”,
and of course, I also use the Chinese transliteration of our Savior’s name a
lot. I do believe that many Christians
will come to call upon the name of “YAHSHUA”
as I do.
If you have not done so, just give it a try.
You will be amazed at the results and also how much more blessings you will
receive from “YAHSHUA”.
May God bless you.
Updated on 01/13/04
This Article is the response of Paul Wong
to a discussion in the ARK Forum on July 12, 2002
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International.
His ministry also serves as an architectural service company in Houston.
The ARK Forum on the Internet is international and non-denominational.
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