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THE NAME OF YAHWEH OUR GOD
May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble.
May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high...
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.
Psalm 20:1,7
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Volume 140 for 2025
No. 1
Monthly Periodical
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ISSN 710450
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Since 1885
January Contents
The Transformation of The War
Against Israel and the Jews
Our Need
1
We Trust In The Name of Yahweh
Introduction
2
What It Means For God To Be
Jealous
Studies
3
“What Is His Name?”
Exposition
7
God’s Prerogative, Not Ours
Touchpoint 11
Ecumenism and Its Danger
Exhortation 12
All Religions Are Not A Path To God
Currents 16
The Symbol of The Great Red Dragon
Prophecy 17
The Ministries of Jesus and Paul To
The Gentiles
Studies 21
From Garfield To Randolph
Our Roots 25
Fallen Asleep In Christ
The Central Florida Gathering
New Mexico Bible School Prep Event
Ecclesial
News 28
“I made known to them your name”
Recap IBC
The third commandment
Living for
Christ BC
Why Is God Called
the God of Abraham?
The Good News
Plan Insert
The “default” Bible translation used in the Good News Plan is
now the English Standard Version (ESV). Biblical citations
there will no longer be denoted with the superscript ESV.
If you have not yet renewed for 2025, please do so now.
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What is one great similarity and one
great difference between the first
round of wars Israel fought against
its enemies in its first twenty-five
years — in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973
– and the war it has been fighting on
seven fronts?
One striking similarity is the stated
goal of Israel’s enemies, as foretold
by the Psalmist: They say, “Come, let
us wipe them out as a nation; let the
name of Israel be remembered no
more!” – Psalm 83:4ESV.
One key difference is the enemies’
motivation. The first round was led
by leaders like Egypt’s President
Nasser as the champion of pan-Arab
nationalism. An Israeli historian ex-
plains the motivation for the current
war in which Iran has the core role:
Attached to Palestinianism and the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict,
Islam
provides the most important reason
and justification for seeking Israel’s
destruction. The conflict, therefore,
is not over territory, or “occupation,”
or social and political rights; it is to
carry out the ‘will of Allah.’
This explains why all of the ‘peace
plans,’ the political and economic
concessions, and support of the in-
ternational community have failed.
There was no understanding that this
conflict was part of a ‘religious’ war
between Muslims and non-Muslims.
It is taught in mosques and schools
throughout the world. For Muslims, it
was, is, and will continue to be a
holy war for Allah.1
Citing an Israeli Druze poet named
Salman Masalha, the historian wrote:
“The biggest impediment posed by
Arab culture is the absence of a
mechanism for self-correction. To
understand the problem this poses,
it’s enough for us to remember that
of the thousands of sayings ascribed
to the prophet Mohammed, there
isn’t a single one that calls on man to
conduct
any
kind
of
self-
examination.
And
without
self-
examination, there can be no cor-
rection – neither for the individual,
nor for society.”2
There is no human solution to this
conflict. It is a manifestation of the
ongoing hatred of Esau for Jacob.
Esau’s descendants chose a religion
– Islam – to deny to Jacob his birth-
right and his blessing. They will nev-
er prevail.
Self-examination
Our Lord provided for us to meet
once each week to examine our-
selves at the breaking of bread. Let
us use that opportunity that God, in
His wisdom, has given us for correc-
tion and rededication of our lives to
our Lord – editor.
1 Moshe Dann, Radical Islam is the
problem; how a religion was hi-
jacked, Israel National News, No-
vember 11, 2024 online edition
2 The
Arab
World’s
Quagmire,
Ha’aretz online, Oct. 24, 2011, cited
in reference 1
The Transformation of The
War Against Israel and the Jews
Our Need
1 -2-
We Trust In The Name of Yahweh
Introduction
The Name of Yahweh our God is an
extensive theme of the Bible. Our
early brethren recognized the im-
portance of the Name and sought to
expound it.
In addition to significant content in Eureka,
Brother Thomas wrote a series of articles
in The Herald of the Kingdom and Age to
Come entitled Mosaic and Nazarene
Teaching Concerning God. This material
was later published as the book Phanero-
sis. The Greek verb phaneroo, from
which the title was derived, means to
make manifest or to appear. These
books address the subject of God mani-
festation. Brother C. C. Walker later wrote
the book Theophany on this subject.
In Exodus 33, Moses appealed to
God to show him His glory (vs. 18).
God proclaimed His name to Moses:
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness, keeping steadfast love
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, but who will
by no means clear the guilty, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers on the
children and the children's children,
to the third and the fourth genera-
tion—Exodus 34:6-7ESV. One aspect
of God’s name is an expression of
the attributes of His character. The
article which follows looks at one of
the lesser studied attributes of God’s
character – jealousy [p. 3].
Other content in this issue related to
God’s name is an introductory level
consideration of the answer God
gave to Moses when the children of
Israel asked, “What is his name?” It
shows the importance of grasping
the future declaration of God’s pur-
pose in His name as well as His pre-
sent existence as the Almighty One
[p. 7].
How the Gentiles could participate
in the people God was taking out for
His name is one great message of
the gospel. Consider how both Jesus
and Paul delivered that message of
hope – and the role of faith in Christ
in bringing us Gentiles nigh [p. 21].
During his visit to Indonesia in Sep-
tember 2024 [p. 16], Pope Francis
made a number of statements that
astonished many conservatives in
the Church of Rome. His inclusive
thinking reflects the spirit of the age.
Adopting this ecumenical spirit is a
danger to us [p. 12].
Our understanding of the legacy of
the Roman Catholic Church is de-
rived from a sound interpretation of
the symbols used in Revelation.
Consider the evidence related to the
history of the dragon symbol [p. 17].
The final chapter of the history of the
Garfield ecclesia covers the reloca-
tion to Randolph and the purchase
of the Schooley’s Mountain Bible
Camp [p. 25].
The role of Islam in framing radical
Muslim
ideology
against
Israel,
which is on display in the western
world, is addressed on p. 1 and p. 6.
The need for us to be vigilant in re-
sisting MAiD as a “treatment option”
for end-of-life situations is brought
forward by our readers [p. 11]. Let us
remember how Job was steadfast
through all his trials: Blessed be the
name of the LORD—Job 1:21.
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Studies
What It Means
For God To Be Jealous
A jealous God appears six times in
the King James Version of the Bible.
There are over twenty other refenc-
es to jealousy as an attribute of God.
These verses mention His being pro-
voked to jealousy about seventeen
times. The context concerns the
worship of a false god or idol instead
of the God of Israel.
The second commandment
The first reference to God’s being a
jealous God appears in the second of
the Ten Commandments:
Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth. Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me; And shewing
mercy unto thousands of them that
love me, and keep my command-
ments – Exodus 20:3-6
In this context, it is included as a
warning: the worship of other gods
will be met with negative conse-
quences. God again cautioned the
Israelites against being ensnared
with the idol worship of the inhabit-
ants of the land they were inheriting
after coming out of Egypt. In this
reference, God explicitly names
Himself as Jealous.
For thou shalt worship no other god:
for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou
make
a
covenant
with
the
inhabitants of the land, and they go
a whoring after their gods, and do
sacrifice unto their gods, and one
call thee, and thou eat of his
sacrifice – Exodus 34:14-15.
When different names of God used
in the Bible are considered, His
name as Jealous is not one that is
usually emphasized.
Repeated a second time
Among the final parting cautionary
words that Moses gave to the chil-
dren of Israel as they went into the
promised land are these:
Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye
forget the covenant of the LORD
your God, which he made with you,
and make you a graven image, or
the likeness of any thing, which the
Blue Letter Bible lists sixteen different
names by which God is revealed in
the Old Testament Scriptures. They
include:
▪ El Shaddai (LORD God Al-
mighty)
▪ El Elyon (The Most High God)
▪ Adonai (LORD, Master)
▪ Yahweh (LORD, Jehovah)
▪ Jehovah Sabaoth (The LORD of
Hosts)
▪ Elohim (God)
Source:
www.blueletterbible.org/study/
misc/name_god.cfm
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LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
For the LORD thy God is a
consuming fire, even a jealous God.
– Deuteronomy 4:23-24.
Deuteronomy is a Greek name for
the fifth book of the Bible meaning
“second law,” The law was repeated
for the children of Israel at the end of
their forty years of wilderness wan-
dering. For example, the Ten Com-
mandments are given again in Deu-
teronomy 5:6-22 (cf. Exodus 20:2-17
when they first came out of Egypt
and assembled at Sinai). The warn-
ing that God is a jealous God is re-
peated in Deuteronomy 5:9, similarly
to how it was first given in Exodus
20:5.
The warning is repeated in the next
chapter, Deuteronomy 6, as a warn-
ing against the children of Israel’s
forgetting God when their blessings
increase in the land which they are
to inherit:
Then beware lest thou forget the
LORD, which brought thee forth out
of the land of Egypt, from the house
of bondage. 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 –
Deuteronomy 6:12-15.
Chapters 4, 5 and 6 of Deuteronomy
each repeat the warning that God is
a jealous God. At the end of Joshua’s
life, he also repeats the warning
against serving other gods.
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye
cannot serve the LORD: for he is an
holy God; he is a jealous God; he
will not forgive your transgressions
nor your sins. If ye forsake the
LORD, and serve strange gods, then
he will turn and do you hurt, and
consume you, after that he hath
done you good – Joshua 24:19-20.
Our perception of being jealous
What do you think of when you hear
the word “jealous?” What perception
would you have of a person who
introduced themselves by wanting
to be known that, among their char-
acteristics, they were jealous? Don’t
we tend to view the attribute of be-
ing jealous negatively? Don’t we see
it as a character flaw that needs to
be corrected? Many unbelievers like
to disparage the character of God for
some of His actions recorded in the
Bible. Would they not likewise think
that jealousy is unbecoming of an
Almighty God?
How can we answer this kind of crit-
icism and defend the character of
the God whom we worship?
First of all, there is something lost in
the translation into English of those
Old Testament verses concerning a
jealous God.
▪ 47 of the 56 English versions
listed on BibleGateway.com use
the same translation as the KJV
in Deuteronomy 4:24, a jealous
God.
▪ Strong's concordance confirms
that the relevant Hebrew word
[H7067] has one only interpreta-
tion and means jealous.
▪ A Hebrew interlinear Bible also
uses jealous in its translation.
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The connection between
being zealous and being jealous
One alternative translation is zeal-
ous: for Jehovah thy God is a fire
consuming – a zealous God YLT.
The Tanakh is a Hebrew Old Testa-
ment used by Jewish people which
does not contain the New Testa-
ment. This version also uses zealous
instead of jealous in these refer-
ences concerning God. An ancient
Hebrew lexicon, which attempts to
restore the original meaning of the
word, also translates this Hebrew
word as zealous.
Both zealous and jealous have the
same root word in Hebrew, Greek
and Latin. In past usage of English,
these two words shared a similar
meaning and could be used inter-
changeably. The Merriam-Webster
dictionary states:
In
the
16th
and
17th
centu-
ries, zealous occasionally was used
in Biblical writing to refer to a quality
of apprehensiveness or jealousy of
another. By the 18th century, howev-
er, it had completely diverged in
meaning from jealous, signifying
“warmly engaged or ardent on be-
half of someone or something.” To-
day, zealous often carries a conno-
tation of excessive feeling: it typical-
ly means “fiercely partisan” or
“uncompromisingly enthusiastic.”
Zeal today has a more positive con-
notation than jealousy which is
viewed negatively and carries a
meaning closer to envy. The original
meaning of the word in relation to
the references translated a jealous
God carried the context of loyalty to
a single God who wishes exclusive
devotion to Him.
When the Bible describes God as
"jealous," it does not mean that God
is petty or envious in the way hu-
mans can be. Instead, it is a way of
expressing God's intense desire for
exclusive devotion and worship
from His people. In this context, God
is emphasizing that He does not
want His people to worship or serve
any other gods or idols because He
is the one true God, and He de-
serves their complete loyalty and
commitment.
An analogy to marital love
God's jealousy is a reflection of His
love and the expectation of faithful-
ness from those who have entered
into a covenant relationship with
Him. Is it not similar to what one
expects in marriage? In Ezekiel’s
prophecy, God compares His love
for Israel to the love of a man for his
wife; and His distress over Israel’s
idolatry to an husband’s anguish
over his wife’s adultery (16:38,42;
23:25)
This figure, of a husband’s jealousy
for his wife, serves to underscore
the importance of the exclusive
worship of the God of Israel.
Throughout the Bible there are nu-
merous cases where God passed
severe judgment on those who wor-
shipped false gods. The plagues on
Egypt are judgments on various
Egyptian gods. They served to illus-
trate the futility of worshipping
these false deities. Ancient Egypt
had over 2,000 different gods and
goddesses. They represented differ-
ent parts of everyday life and natural
phenomena.
1 -6-
These divine judgments were not
limited to Gentiles. They applied
equally to God’s people to whom the
Law of Moses was given.
The incident with the golden calf in
Exodus 32:1-35 is one example. Eli-
jah and the prophets of Baal in 1
Kings 18:20-40 serves as another
cautionary account. It makes no
sense to replace the living, all-
powerful God with a non-living,
substitute idol – such a false god has
no power. To give one’s devotion to
that which has no power it is not
logical.
Whether the translation is jealous or
zealous, the Bible declares that God
is very particular and protective
about being recognized and respect-
ed as the only God in existence. He
only is to be praised.
I am the LORD: that is my name:
and my glory will I not give to
another,
neither
my
praise
to
graven images – Isaiah 42:8.
Editor’s note – The author is a Christa-
delphian brother in good standing
whose name has been withheld at his
request.
Ancient Hebrew Research Center
The article that follows draws upon a source for learning about ancient He-
brew maintained by a non-Christadelphian, Jeff Benner, who founded the An-
cient Hebrew Research Center in Mississippi. Mr. Benner has no formal de-
grees in respect of the Hebrew language. He is self-taught through his own
study of ancient Hebrew from scholars of this language. His approach to
translation of ancient Hebrew is more concrete and less abstract than most
translators. We do not agree with all of his conclusions nor all of his under-
standing of the Bible. Nevertheless, his effort to help those of us whose first
language is English relate to the culture and linguistics of ancient Hebrew can
be helpful. His knowledge of Hebrew grammar is referenced in what follows.
The two houses of Islam
Islamic religious and political leaders adhere to a concept that divides the
world into Dar al-Islam (House of Islam) and Dar al-harb (House of War) as
they broadcast daily sermons of incitement to murder Jews, promising heaven
and redemption for those that carry out this call to rid the world of Jews.
The Dar al-Islam are all those lands in which a Muslim government rules and
the Holy Law of Islam prevails. Non-Muslims may live there on Muslim suffer-
ance. The outside world, which has not yet been subjugated to Muslim rule, is
called the "House of War," and strictly speaking is in a perpetual state of jihad,
or holy war, as imposed by the Sharia law, a canonically obligatory perpetual
state of war until the whole world is either converted or subjugated to Islam.
Ron Jager, Liberating the world from Jews, Israel National News online, No-
vember 13, 2024.
Editor’s note: Because the land of Israel was once part of Dar al-Islam, Mus-
lims who follow this teaching can never accept the existence of Israel.
1 -7-
“What Is His Name?”
James Farrar, Ontario
Exposition
As children, do we not remember
reading these passages and wonder-
ing about the unusual phrase in all
capital letters: I AM THAT I AM?
As we gained more understanding,
we learned that this phrase can also
mean I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. Is
this change in the tense of the verb,
from the present tense in the KJV to
the future tense in Christadelphian
understanding, supported by experts
in ancient Hebrew?
Present or future tense?
In ancient Hebrew, the tenses of
verbs distinguish the nature of action
not time, as they do in English.
▪ Completed
actions
are
ex-
pressed by the perfect tense
▪ Incomplete actions, which may
be ongoing or future, are ex-
pressed by the imperfect tense
The tense of the verb in Exodus 3:14
is imperfect. Ancient Hebrew is a
dynamic language in which both the
present [the state of being] and the
future [the process of becoming] can
be intended at the same time. It
should not be framed an either/or
question. The use of the imperfect
tense leads to the question, “what
action has not yet been completed?”
The same verb ehyeh appears two
verses earlier where the KJV transla-
tors rendered it in the future tense:
And Moses said unto God, Who am
I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and
that I should bring forth the children
of Israel out of Egypt? And he said,
Certainly I will be [Hebrew, ehyeh]
with thee; and this shall be a token
unto thee, that I have sent thee:
When thou hast brought forth the
people out of Egypt, ye shall serve
God upon this mountain – Exodus
3:11-12. This dialogue between God
and Moses relates to a future action
not yet completed, namely, Moses’
returning to Pharaoh’s court to lead
Israel out of Egypt.
Two
examples
of
non-Christa-
delphian reference sources that al-
low or follow the future tense of
God’s name are:
▪ the translators of the English
Standard Version (ESV) provide
the following marginal note,
“...or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL
BE.”
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and
they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of
Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and
this is my memorial unto all generations — Exodus 3:13-15.
1 -8-
▪ The Chabad Tanakh translation
gives this rendering: God said to
Moses, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I
will be what I will be),” and He
said, “So shall you say to the
children of Israel, ‘Ehyeh (I will
be) has sent me to you.’”
Translating this phrase as “I WILL BE
WHO I WILL BE” is as valid as the
present tense of the KJV.
Another variant of the translation of
this phrase is I shall become who I
am becoming [Hebrew interlinear
Bible, Scripture4all.org website]. In
this case, the future and the present
tense are both used – the future for
the first occurrence of ehyeh and the
present for the second one. Because
the ancient Hebrew structure does
not require that the tense of the verb
be identical in each instance, this
variant is also a possible translation.
What Bible examples integrate both
a present and a future application of
the identity of the God of Israel?
▪ “We give You thanks, O Lord
God Almighty, who is and was
and who is to come, because
You have taken Your great
power and begun to reign.” –
Revelation 11:17MEV ; cf. 1:4.
All three tenses are used in respect
of the Almighty’s existence – past,
present and future.
▪ and without faith it is impossible
to please him, for the one who
approaches God must believe
that he exists and that he re-
wards those who seek him –
Hebrews 11:6BMT
The fundamental core of faith is to
believe that God exists and that He
has a future purpose, that has not
yet been completed, to reward
those who seek Him.
How did the early translators of the
Hebrew text into Greek render this
defining phrase of the name of the
God whom we worship? The answer
is provided by the Septuagint. The
most common English rendering of
the Greek Septuagint is I am THE
BEING.
In whom will God be glorified?
The name by which God revealed
Himself to Moses therefore affirms
that He is the Supreme Being – the
Existent One – and that He has a
future purpose underway that has
not yet been completed. The way
that the name is revealed invites one
to seek to understand what the Su-
preme Being shall be in the future. It
leads to the question, “What is the
purpose He has promised to com-
plete? What will He become?” In
Christadelphian
terminology,
we
might ask it as, “In whom will He
manifest His glory?”
The answer to this question is given
in a kernel form: God said moreover
to Moses, “You shall tell the children
of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is
my name forever, and this is my
memorial to all generations – Exo-
dus 3:15WEB. In this testimony, a sec-
ond name, Yahweh, is given. The
action not yet completed, as indicat-
ed by the use of the imperfect tense,
relates to God’s identity as the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Moses anticipated that the children
of Israel he was being sent to deliver