Constantine had HUGE eyes. Also, he was a little crazy.

Now that you know YHWH, I am going to introduce you to another pivotal character in human history that MAYBE had more influence on the modern day Christian church than Jesus (Yahushua) himself. Who could THAT be you ask?

                                             THIS guy. His name was Constantine.

Perhaps you've heard of him in history class? He was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Not too long, but long enough to make a HUGE impact on mankind for thousands of years to come. He has often been referred to fondly as the first "Christian" Emperor. He did do the Christians a big favor by issuing the Edict of Milan in 313, a letter proclaiming religious tolerance and therefore putting a halt on the numerous acts of hate, violence and imprisonment that were plaguing the Christians at the time. Though Constantine did say in a letter to the Christians that he was, in fact, a Christian, historians will agree that this was more for political reasons. In truth, Constantine wasn't a true follower of the Hebrew God YHWH or Yahushua (Jesus). He was baptized days before his death, but probably only out of guilt over killing his wife and son as well as out of fear that he would go to hell if he did not. In fact, he bore the title "Pontifus Maximus"-the high preist of paganism, throughout his rule. 


Before he died, however, Constantine sought to blend Christian and Pagan traditions. Some believe this was to unify the empire; I think it was because he was afraid of the Hebrew god. He recognized throughout history that Christians had seen many victories in battle and their persecutor's misfortune. He wanted the same victory in battle and I think that was his only motivation in acknowledging the god of the Hebrews, YHWH. He actually worshipped the pantheon of Roman gods as all his predecessors had done and especially the Roman sun god, Mithras. 


In 325, the Council of Nicea, a council convened by Constantine, birthed the Roman Catholic Church. The council excluded any Hebrew leaders and henceforth banned synagogues and the Torah. WHICH is CENTRAL even to modern day Christianity, (not just to Judaism.) The Torah was and is considered to be YHWH's laws and without them, Christianity was forever changed into what we see today. We celebrate the wrong holidays, Christmas and Easter, as well as rest on the wrong Sabbath. But more on that later. 


(I want to add that celebrating Christmas or Easter does NOT make you a bad person by ANY means, however, they are holidays that are not acknowledged by YHWH. They are man made traditions that we have adopted in time in our culture. YHWH does have holidays that we are called to acknowledge, however, and I will be posting blogs on each of them so that we can learn what they are and how to celebrate together!)


Anyhow, this has been a HEAVY history lesson, I realize. But one that is necessary if we are to understand the origins of Christianity and how they influence us today. 


I guess the point I am trying to make is that of "dispensationalism." This is a term used to describe the doctrine that creates this big fictional distinction between the old and new testament of the bible. Modern day Christians tend to ignore the Torah, (again, the first five books of the bible) and instead focus primarily on the new testament. However, when one approaches the bible this way, it COMPLETELY changes the way the scriptures are read and interpreted. Hence, age-old misunderstandings have permeated our culture generating an understandable hostility toward followers of the bible who call themselves Christians; many of which may have a VERY genuine faith in YHWH but lack the knowledge and understanding of the Hebraic roots of the old testament that is key to truly understanding the faith as a whole. 


Todd D. Bennett, an attorney and author who has traveled the world researching and teaching the Hebraic roots of the Christian religion, writes, "A person who has been indoctrinated into dispensationalism will be unable to appreciate the SIMPLICITY of the scriptures and the commandments, which have become convoluted, twisted, confusing and sometimes incomprehensible when viewed through the lens of this warped theology." 


It really explains the separation between Jews and Christians, who both claim to serve the same God, YHWH, as well as call the Torah scripture, but they do not use the same names or languages for their texts. 


Having said ALLLLL that, I hope I have intrigued you enough to spark an interest to study on your own and discover your own truth! Until then, I hope you keep reading and I will keep studying so that we can keep learning together.


Again feel free to leave comments or email me! ashleyalysse476@gmail.com


Love,


Ashley

Have it YHWH!

Today's post is going to be short and sweet. My dad read yesterday's and said it was too long. It might have hurt my feelings if I hadn't also inherited his 3 second attention span. Today is going to be very basic and is pretty much going to explain the reason behind choosing my dorky blog title! 

One of the first things I learned when beginning this search for truth was that the god of the bible has a name... and it isn't GOD. However, I'm sure you've noticed if you've ever been to a church service, or ever met someone who is a believer, they refer to the god of the bible as GOD. They say, "I believe in God" and "I asked God for help" blah blah blah. There is nothing WRONG with that. Most people have never known any different! 

However, in the original Hebrew bible, the text uses God's actual name over 7,000 times! A long time ago, a false doctrine was perpetrated regarding speaking this name. Instead, followers of the god of the bible started called him things like "god," "lord," "Jehovah" or even "Ha Shem" which is Hebrew for "the name." This practice was mankind's idea and originally intended to show reverence, but instead, it just made everyone FORGET what God's name actually is. So, let's rewind and read where God officially introduces himself to Moses in the third chapter of Exodus (or "Shemot" in Hebrew.) 

"...13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, `What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'15 And God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, `The Lord, 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-name to ALL GENERATIONS."

Translated into English, you could say God's name is "I am that I am," or "He who is" Therefore, the transliteration of God's personal name is YHWH! (Note: Hebrew has no vowels and is read left to right so said aloud it sounds like "YAH-WEH")

Let's break it down for those visual learners:

The English transliteration of God's personal name is YHWH.

The four Hebrew letters transliterated YHWH are:

 a Yod, rhymes with "rode", which we transliterate "Y"

 a He, rhymes with "say", which we transliterate "H"

 a Vav, like "lava", which we transliterate "W" or "V"

 another He

Read left to right, it spells out YHWH! 

(Now, take a moment to read the title of this post and make fun of my lame YHWH joke. There's plenty more where that came from!) 

Now, I'm sure most of you have heard the commandment not to "take the Lord's name in vain" found in Exodus 20:7. At least I did my entire childhood when I was repeatedly reprimanded for saying things like "Oh my GOD!" In truth, saying "Oh my God" actually has nothing to do with God's name whatsoever. This came as a great relief to me since I have a POTTY mouth! In fact, what the verse is saying is two things. First, we are obviously not to use the name of YHWH disrespectfully. However, this part of the commandment has become obsolete in modern times because most people don't even know what God's name is! Which brings me to my second point. The Hebrew word for 'vain', pronounced "SHAV" in Hebrew, means "desolating, uselessness or naught." We don't have a problem using the name of God disrespectfully, we have a problem not using or knowing it at ALL. We have brought it to NAUGHT. 

The suppression of God's name was the opposite of what he wanted, no matter how reverential man's intentions were. He made using the name a part of the commandment so that we could have a deeper level of intimacy with him. How weird would it be if your father only addressed you as "boy" or "daughter" and never by your name? 

At work, I called a co-worker 'Rob' for the first two weeks only to find out his name was Gabriel. Was he pissed? No, but it definitely told of how little we knew one another. How well can we know YHWH, who He is and what He is like if we don't even know his NAME?! 

YHWH not only wants us to use his name, he CALLS us to. This way, He can have the intimate relationship with us that he intended. 

"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the FRIEND of God." James 2:23


"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:15

What else is the Christian church mistaken or misinformed about? A LOT. If you're interested in studying on your own, I highly recommend purchasing a Jewish Study Bible. The footnotes rock. Also, Todd D. Bennett has a series of books that I'm reading called "Walk in the Light" that are all about revealing the lost truths of scripture. 

Oops. This post might be longer than yesterdays. Not apologizing. :)

Follow my blog and feel free to leave comments or ask questions!

Love, 

Ashley