Recently, I’ve been drawn to the names of God, thinking specifically about the name YHWH. Pronounced ‘Yahweh’, this name is Hebrew for ‘The Lord,’ and it turns out that this name is one of the most powerful proofs for our creator, and also one of the most recently discovered ones.
When God first revealed this name to Moses, in Exodus 6:2, God says, “אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה:”, which reads, ‘I am the Lord’, or ‘I am YHWH.’ Over time, we have added vowels to the name, which was not included in the original text. Scholars have connected the sounds of YHWH to breathing, using the context of the Hebrew in the original book. YH is an in-breath, and WH is an out-breath. This means that every time we breathe, we declare God’s name. We declare The Lord. We declare YHWH.
This means that a baby’s first words are YHWH. No matter who that baby goes on to be, they have already proclaimed the name of The Lord.
This means that when you’re tired, and you let out a sigh, you are speaking out life, because you declare YHWH. In our exhausted moments, The Lord is with us, to provide us strength and peace. Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” In hard times, we call upon the Lord just by breathing, and Spirit intercedes for us.
This also means that when you’re scared, God is with you. Your body releases Adrenaline, or Epinephrine, which speeds up your heart rate, to provide more oxygen to the body. This oxygen we get from our breathing, which we have to speed up to account for our increased heart rate. In the moments we are most fearful, there is an increased declaration of YHWH.
In times where we struggle with identity, and we need to remember whose we are, we can turn to YHWH. In 2003, biologists completed sequencing the whole human genome (all our genetic material), which means we have been better able to understand and diagnose inherited disorders, amongst other things. In doing this, an incredible discovery was made about our DNA.
Our DNA contains bases, and 3 of these bases make a code. This code tells a part of our cell, an organelle called the ribosome, to produce a specific amino acid. Amino acids join together in long chains to produce proteins, which is what our entire body is made out of.
Also in our DNA, there are bridges, to join the DNA into woven strands that make up chromosomes. Every 10 bases, there is a bridge, then after 5 bases, there is another, and then 6 bases, and then another bridge, another 5 bases and a then bridge, before it repeats again. These are extremely strange numbers, as both 10 and 5 are not divisible by 3, so the placement of these bridges have been questioned. Why are they like this?
The truth is, when we align these bases with the Hebrew alphabet, ‘10, 5, 6, 5’ spells out YHWH.
In our DNA, the name YHWH is written. Our creator has signed His creation, because He is proud of it! Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image.””, and He wasn't lying! His image, His name, makes up our identity, because it is built on YHWH.
But, what exactly is YHWH?
YHWH is constructed from the Hebrew letters ‘Yod’, ‘Heh’, ‘Waw’ and ‘Heh.’ ‘Yod’ represents a hand, or a work entirely finished. ‘Heh’ means to behold, to reveal, or to show. ‘Waw’ represents a nail. Therefore, the name YHWH, truly means: “Behold the hand; behold the nail” or “Behold the finished work, behold the nail.”
YHWH is a promise! YHWH is The Lord showing us the prophecy that Jesus fulfilled by dying on the cross. YHWH is The Lord reminding us that the battle against death has already been won by Jesus, and that we are the victors.
Therefore, our DNA is a reminder. It is a reminder that Jesus, the only son of God, was killed, to bear the weight of our sins, and to win the battle against death. Our very existence is living proof of that. When we breathe, we declare it, and as we grow, the presence of YHWH within us grows too.
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