Psalms 68:4 reads, “Extol Him who rides on the waters, by His name JAH.” As any reference book will tell you, the letter ‘J’ is fairly new to the English alphabet.

Encyclopedia Americana: The form of J was unknown in any alphabet until the 14th century. Either symbol (J, I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year. Gradually, the two symbols (J, I) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.

New Funk and Wagnall Encyclopedia: Not until the middle of the 17th century did this usage become universal in the English books; in the King James Bible of 1611 for example, the words Jesus and judge are invariably Iesus and iudge.

Encyclopedia Britannica: The original consonantal sound represented by the letter was the semi-vowel or spirant “I” (the sound of y in yacht). This passed into ‘dy’ and later into the sound ‘dz’ which the letter represents today.

Just as in the word Hallelujah, the ‘J’ is pronounced with an Y sound. (HalleluYah means: praise ye YAH!) His name is “YAH”. His manifestation in what we call the Old Testament was ‘YAHWEH’, which means ‘I will be what I will be,’ or ‘I am that I am.’ In the Old Testament YAH was exactly what HE wanted to be. For instance He spoke through a donkey (refer), He spoke through a burning bush (refer), and the list goes on! He was what He was! YAHWEH! This holy name YAHWEH does not appear in our Bibles today because of mishandling of the transliteration of this Holy name. Many of our Bibles contain this fact in the preface; for example the NAS says this:

New American Standard: In the Scriptures, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for the Deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim. One of the titles for god is Lord, a mistranslation of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as his special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore it has been consistently translated LORD. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated GOD in order to avoid confusion. It is known for many years YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh, however no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation.

New International Version: In regard to the divine name YHWH, commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton, the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering the name as “LORD” in capitol letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered “Lord,” for which small letters are used. Wherever the two names stand together in the Old Testament as a compound name of God, they are rendered “Sovereign LORD.” Because for most readers today the phrases “The LORD of host” and God of Hosts” have little meaning, this version renders the “the LORD Almighty” and “God Almighty.” These renderings convey the sense of Hebrew, namely, “he who is sovereign over all the ‘host’ (powers) in heaven and on earth, especially over the “hosts” (armies) of Israel.” For readers unacquainted with the Hebrew this does not make clear the distinction between Sabaoth (“hosts” or “Almighty”) and Shaddai (which can also be translated “Almighty”), but the latter occurs infrequently and is always footnoted. When Adonai and YHWH Saboath occur together, they are rendered “the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”

Other footnotes in the NIV says this:

The LORD. The Hebrew for this name is Yahweh (often incorrectly spelled “Jehovah”; see note on Dt. 28:58). It means ’He is’ or ‘He will be’ and is the third-person form of the verb translated ’I will be’ in v.12 and “I AM” in v.14 When God speaks of himself he says, “I AM,” and when we speak of him we say “HE is.”

The footnote on Deut 28:58:

The LORD. See note and NIV note on Ex 3:15. One of the oddities of history and revelation is the loss of the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew word YHWH, the most intimate and personal name of God in the OT (see note on Ge. 2:4). “Jehovah” is a spelling of a name with the vowels of a word for “Lord” (Adonai), “Yahweh” is probably the original pronunciation. The name eventually ceased to be pronounced because later the Jews thought it too holy to be and uttered and feared violating Ex 20:7 and Lev 24:16. It is translated “LORD” in this version.

The footnote on Gen 2:4:

LORD God. “LORD” (Hebrew YHWH, “Yahweh”) is the personal and covenant name of God, emphasizing His role as Israel’s Redeemer and covenant Lord, while “God” (Hebrew Elohim) is a general term. Both names occur thousands of times in the OT, and often, as here, they appear together - clearly indicating that they refer to the same one and only God.

These references are direct quotations, and I hope you will take this matter serious enough to go to your local library and verify this information, and also consider other sources of manuscripts as well. Let’s continue! So we see so far that the letter J was not used until recent times, and that LORD or GOD (in some cases) replaces the Qodesh name Yahweh. We know that the name Yahweh is important, it was in the Scriptures 6,823 times in the OT alone! The Scriptures refers to “His name.” 108 times, “Thy name.” 109 times, “My name.” 97 times. Let’s read what some secular references say about this name.

The New American Encyclopedia: “Jehovah- (properly Yahweh) a name of the God of Israel, now widely regarded as a mis-pronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH.

The Encyclopedia Britannica: “...the letters YHWH used in the original Hebrew Bible to represent the name of God.”

The Oxford Cyclopedia Concordance: “Jehovah- the name revealed to Moses at Horeb. Its real pronunciation is approximately Yahweh. The Name itself was not pronounced Jehovah before the 16th century.”

American Heritage Dictionary: “Yahweh-A name for God assumed by modern scholars to be a rendering of the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton.”

Webster’s New World Dictionary: “Yahweh-God, a form of the Hebrew name in the Old Testament. See Tetragrammaton.”

Encyclopedia Britannica (Micropedia, vol.10): Yahweh-the personal name of the God of the Israelites...The Masoretes, Jewish Biblical scholars of the middle ages, replaced the vowel signs that had appeared above or beneath the consonants of YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai or of Elohim. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars again began to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used the form Yahweh, thus this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never really lost. Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.
Religious Scholars and references:

Jewish Encyclopedia: “Rabbinical Literature-the name Yahweh is considered the Name proper.” Vol. 9, p.901

Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary: “And the name above all others that was looked upon as the name, the personal name of God, was YAHWEH.” Vol. 1, p. 172.

Review and Herald, December 16, 1971: Yahweh is the name that indicates the god of the Hebrews. Where the Philistines worshipped Dagon, the Egyptians, Amon, and the Ammonites, Milcom, the Hebrews worshipped YAHWEH. The title ‘god’ (elohim) is applied to false deities in the Scriptures as well as Yahweh, hence is not a term by which one can be distinguished from the others. When the voice said, ‘I am Yahweh,’ there was no doubt in any listener’s mind as to the identity of the speaker. He was the god of the Hebrews. So far as is known, no other peoples called their god by this name.

There is a wealth of information on this name, and it can be discovered if someone cared to take the time to do so. Although, the Scriptures reveal to us that Yahweh knew His people would forget His name, prophesy falsely in another, BUT one day Yahweh would cause His people to remember His name again. I don’t know why His name seems to have been hidden until now but it had to have been in Yahweh’s plan. Hebrew names are transliterated into the English Bibles as in many biblical names of the Old Testament such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah, they end with this first part (Yah) of the sacred Name. Note they retain the “ee” sound of the I in “iah.” Let’s read some Scriptures!

Jeremiah 23:26-27: “How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesies lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own hearts; v.27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man his neighbor, as their fathers have FORGOTTEN MY NAME FOR BAAL.”(Baal is translated into English as Lord)

Hosea 2:16-17: “And it shall be in that day, saith Yahweh, that thou shalt call me Ishi (husband) and shalt call me no more Baali (lord). v.17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth...”

Jeremiah 8:8: "How can you say, We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD, when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?” NIV

The references to His name are so numeral we could not possibly go over each one, but I have shown you a few that speak of the name of Yahweh being forgotten, and then in time it being revealed! Also we read in Jeremiah chapter 8 that the pen of the scribe (those who transcribed the Scripture) had worked falsely. When you consider the Religious references along with Secular references, and consider what the Scriptures says about the name Yahweh, it is easy to comprehend how we have a translation of the Scriptures (that were written in Hebrew) that do not use His correct name, Yahweh. It is not enough to know the name Yahweh, but we are to use it as well. Jeremiah chapter 10 verse 25 says: “Pour out thy fury on the heathen that know thee not, and upon the FAMILIES THAT CALL NOT UPON THY NAME....”
 
 

You are probably like most people and have been taught to call the Messiah by the Greek name, Jesus. It doesn’t make much sense to think that a Hebrew would have been called by a Greek name. We have already discovered that the letter J was not in use during the time of Messiah. As a matter of fact in the 1611 King James Version, Jesus was spelled Iesus, pronounced (eeazues). That was not too long ago!

Encyclopedia Americana: The form of J was unknown in any alphabet until the 14th century. Either symbol (J, I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year. Gradually, the two symbols (J, I) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.

What about Matthew 1:21: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” How could this have been possible? Considering there was not the letter J and He was a Hebrew, not a Greek!

Douay-Rheims Catholic Bibles: (under Hebrews 4:8) “Jesus, Josue, who in Greek is called Jesus.”

We must also understand that names are not translated, but transliterated, which means that it goes from sound for sound into another language. For Instance the name Bill Clinton is still Bill Clinton in Israel, Russia, and in every other country!

Encyclopedia Americana: “Jesus Christ-...Although Matthew (1:21) interprets the name originally Joshua, that is, ‘Yahweh is salvation,’ and finds it specially appropriate for Jesus of Nazareth, it was a common one at the time.” (Vol. 16, p.41)

Encyclopedia Britannica (15th ed.): “Jesus Christ-...The same is true of the name Jesus. In the Septuagint it is customary Greek form for the common Hebrew name Joshua; i.e., ‘Yahweh helps.’ “ Vol. 10p.149.

In Acts 7:75 and Hebrews 4:8 we read the name Jesus in these two verses. But it was not talking about our Savior, it was referring to Joshua the son of Nun. Why was this done? It is simple, Joshua son of Nun had the same name as our Messiah Yahoshua. Yahoshua transliterated into English is Joshua (Yahoshua). When translators got to these verses they did not translate it as it should have been but that CHANGED THE NAME. If it had been translated or transliterated it would have been Yahoshua (Joshua). But as we read we see clearly it was changed! Does it matter? Yes it does. Acts 4:12 says: “Neither is their salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” The phrase ‘no other’ can be interpreted as ‘strange, altered, or different.’ Jesus definitely would have been consider a strange or altered name, since the letter J was not in existence! His name was a Hebrew name, Yahoshua!
Some may say that they see so many people healed, or touched in the name ‘Jesus’. But there is another Scripture that I think explains why.

Matt 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (iniquity means lawlessness)”

I think that if these people had been doing mighty works in HIS NAME that He would know them, but He does not know these people who think that they are using HIS NAME.

Yahoshua came in His Father’s name...(John 5:43) How did He?

Psalms 68:4: “extol Him who rides on the waters by His name JAH (YAH).” The name Yahoshua means, Yahweh’s Salvation. Revelations 3:8 “I know you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” NIV

Webster’s New World Dictionary: “To declare untrue; contradict; refuse to accept as true or right, reject as unfound, unreal, etc.

Many of us today are denying His name! We are refusing it! But we have to realize there is salvation in only one name! (Acts 4:12) Please do not stop here, continue studying and reading! I have briefly gone over some materials on the Name of Yahweh and the name of Yahoshua. It is now up to you to search out your own soul’s salvation. HalleluYAH! (HalleluYAH means praise ye YAH)