The Name Of the Lord is a Strong Tower

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:25-26

Many of us were raised singing the song Blessed be the Name of the Lord in church.

The point here is not to pick apart this song. It is simply to point out a lack of Christian education, following years of traditions and not even realizing what is taking place.

The song quotes Proverbs 18:10, stating that the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Pro 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Anyone who reads my blogs consistently will automatically see some problems. We sing these words with the chorus “blessed be the name, blessed be the name”, without ever knowing what the name is. There are two systems of substituting the name of the Creator in this song. Christianity substitutes the name of the Creator God with “Lord”, and Judaism substitutes the same name with השם, (h’Shem), which means “the name”. Nowhere in this song has anyone revealed the actual name that is a strong tower where the righteous can run into and be safe. Why do most people sing this song over and over, never really knowing the source of the strong tower? Here is a translation the shows the name as it appears in Hebrew:

Pro 18:10 The Name of יהוה is a strong tower; The righteous run into it and are safe.

This version is great if a person knows the Creator’s name in Hebrew, but the average Christian doesn’t even know they are missing an actual name, so how can they be expected to know the name in Hebrew? Josephus, a Jewish historian, tells us the Creator’s name is pronounced as four vowel sounds. The best representation we have in English is Yahuah or Yahweh, possibly pronounced “ee ah oo wa”. The state of Iowa is suspiciously close to this. Hawaii spelled backwards is also close. “Iiawah” Considering Hebrew is right to left, the connections can be made. The point is we truly do not know the absolute correct pronunciation when Yahweh spoke the name to Moses, but we know it definitely was not pronounced “L-o-r-d”, and the strong tower is in the name Yahweh. Using these substitutions are like calling the Creator “old what’s his name”, and it is a terrible thing that we have forgotten the name.

Jer 23:26 How long will this be in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,
Jer 23:27 who plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal?

Hos 2:16 And on that day—a declaration of Yahweh—you will call me, “My husband;” you will no longer call me, “My Baal.”
Hos 2:17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by their name.

Ba’al is Strong’s H1168 which means “lord”. Does everyone see how confusing this is?

H1168
בּעל
ba‛al
BDB Definition:
Baal = “lord”
1) supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites (noun proper masculine)

We have successfully fulfilled the prophecy of forgetting His name for Baal, or Lord. Whether by accident, a deep, dark trick by the devil, or by design of Yahweh, we are here! However, as of late, more and more people throughout the world are learning the name that is a strong tower, יהוה! Blessed be the name of Yahuah! Now that we know the name is Yahweh and not Baal, let’s look at the rest of the verse.

Pro 18:10 The Name of יהוה is a strong tower; The righteous run into it and are safe.

Who are the righteous? Many take this following verse out of context, claiming none can be righteous.

Psa 14:3 All have gone astray; they are altogether corrupt. There is not one who does good; there is not even one.

If we look at the whole passage, we see that it is those who say there is no God that Yahweh is speaking about.

Psa 14:1 For the music director. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good.
Psa 14:2 Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind to see whether there is one who has insight, one who cares about God.
Psa 14:3 All have gone astray; they are altogether corrupt. There is not one who does good; there is not even one.
Psa 14:4 All who do evil—do they not know, they who eat my people as though they were eating bread? They do not call on Yahweh.
Psa 14:5 There they are very fearful because God is with the generation of the righteous.
Psa 14:6 You would put to shame the plan of the poor, because Yahweh is his refuge.
Psa 14:7 Oh that from Zion would come salvation for Israel! When Yahweh returns the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be happy.

Paul tells us much about these scriptures.

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
Rom 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
Rom 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
Rom 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Rom 3:13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
Rom 3:14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
Rom 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Rom 3:16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
Rom 3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
Rom 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
Rom 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
Rom 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Rom 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Rom 3:26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Rom 3:27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Rom 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Rom 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
Rom 3:30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
Rom 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Romans 3:31, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” Paul tells us we should uphold the law through faith. This is where we must “rightly divide the word of truth”. Paul’s audience would know how a person is counted as “righteous”.

Deu 6:24 And so Yahweh commanded us to observe all of these rules and to revere Yahweh our God for our benefit all the days that we live, as it is today.
Deu 6:25 And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’

We are not considered righteous by our own deeds, it’s only when through faith we are obedient to the righteousness of God. Righteousness is defined by God, not by man. Therefore, there is no amount of money a person can pay the church, no amount of times a person can attend church, or be a “good” person in the sight of men, that will have any affect on a person’s justification before Yahweh. He calls on us to be obedient to His commandments to show our faith and love to Him. Moreover, He divinely influences our heart to walk in His ways. This is the definition of grace, Strong’s G5485.

G5485
χάρις
charis
khar’-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

The divine influence of the heart, which has been translated to the word “grace” is exactly what Ezekiel prophesied.

Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Paul speaks of this in the terms of walking in the flesh, or walking in the Spirit. This Spirit enables us to please God by submitting to His law.

Rom 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Rom 8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

This is not very hard to understand when a person removes the twisting of scripture by people presenting a lawless gospel. The Spirit enables a person to walk in Messiah’s footsteps. Peter warned us of the weak minds who would twist the writings of Paul into a lawless gospel.

2Pe 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
2Pe 3:15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
2Pe 3:16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
2Pe 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Repent, learn the name of the Lord, Yahweh, and avoid a lawless gospel leading to destruction. There is great peace in following the footsteps of our Messiah.