Introduction

When you read the Bible, you will find that there is quite a big difference between what is written there and what is taught in most churches today. Many have observed this. Reformers like Zwingli, Luther and Calvin intended to return to the original faith, to what Yeshua and his disciples believed and taught. Others took over the work of returning to our Hebrew roots, but the goal has not yet been attained. For those that have not seriously read their Bibles this may come as a surprise. One would expect it to be a straightforward task to read the Scriptures and follow what is taught there. But many are so tied up with their traditions and upbringing that changes seem too difficult.

Yeshua taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth like it is in heaven!” This prayer is directed to our Creator, YHWH. We believe that his will is to be found in the Bible. In order to know his will and to do it, we must read our Bible and see what it teaches us about the will of YHWH for our life, his law, his Torah.

Our declaration of faith, our credo, as it is shown here is a summary of how far we have come in our search. We shall continue to pray, work and grow in wisdom and understanding. We are the EDAT YHWH, the Congregation of YHWH.

The path of the just is as the shining light,
that shines more and more unto the perfect day.
Prov 4:18

CREDO I believe

That there is one true and holy Elohim:
Hear, Israel: YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.

That the Bible, consisting of both the Old and the
New Testament, is the word of YHWH.

That YHWH revealed his love and grace through Yeshua.

That Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel
and of the entire world.

That the Ten Commandments of Ex 20,
the dietary laws in Lev 11 and the celebrations
appointed by YHWH in Lev 23 are to be observed today.

In the restoring of the land of Israel
and the regathering of the twelve tribes of Israel
to their inheritance.

That the Church has not replaced Israel,
but that Jews and Gentiles together are a part of
YHWH`s great plan and purpose.

Hear, Israel: YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.

We believe that there is one true and holy Elohim: Hear, O Israel: YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.

(Elohim means God. Eloheinu means our God.)
When Moses had led Israel through the desert for 40 years, YHWH told him that he should not be allowed to come into the Promised Land, but he should die and be buried outside of its borders. Thus it was important for Moses to make sure that the people of Israel knew what they should believe, what YHWH had commanded his people. Israel was to bring the message out into the entire world. Then Moses spoke to Israel and said:

Shma Israel, YHWH Eloheinu, YHWH Echad

(Ex 6:4).

This is Hebrew, and this commandment has been the declaration of our faith and praise to YHWH every day for thousands of years.

The Name YHWH is called the “Tetragrammaton”, which is Greek for the “Four-letter-word”.
The four Hebrew letters are Iod, He, Wav and He.
They were originally letters from an alphabet which we call the Paleo Hebrew.
They were in fact four vowels, so that today we could write I-A-U-E.
Many versions of the pronunciation have been used, like Yehovah, Yahuweh etc.
Yahweh is the pronunciation we use.

A translation of the “Shmah” to English may be:
“Hear Israel: YHWH is our Elohim, YHWH and none other.”
Or:
“Listen Israel: YHWH our Elohim is One.”
Or:
“Give attention Israel: YHWH our Elohim is the Only Reality.”

This last formulation is based on the understanding that YHWH means
“The Only Existing One”.
Thus there is no existence except YHWH.
We shall return to that later.

is the Name of God, and it is the only name of God.
Among the nations there are many “gods”, but only one is real, that is YHWH. The word “God” is not a name. It is a title, like butcher, engineer or teacher.

In our English Bibles the name YHWH has been substituted by “the Lord”.
But Lord is also just a title, like God. In Spanish it is Senior, in German it is Herr, etc.
Why has the name above all names have been replaced with “Lord”?

There are many theories about this. But it is clear from the Bible that YHWH wanted everyone to know his name and that he wanted his people to use it and teach all nations that YHWH, and only YHWH, is God. When the Jews were in captivity in Babylon for 70 years they adopted some ideas and thoughts that are not in agreement with what the Bible teaches. Such an idea was that the name YHWH is so sacred that it must not be mentioned. The penalty for pronouncing the name aloud was death.
When Israel was in Babylon, they changed their alphabet, but the new characters retain their old names.

It was then alleged that the alphabet only contained consonants, and that the name cannot be pronounced. And people began to call God “Adonai” which means “Lord”, or “Ha Shem,” which means “The Name”.

Because the nations of the world have different languages and different ways to pronounce the letters of the Tetragram it has since been written YHWH in English, JHVH in Scandinavia etc. Many languages pronounce “J” as in the English John. Other languages, like German and Scandinavian pronounce J as Y.

Some have believed that the Tetragrammaton had four consonants, and that one had to insert vowels, and many came to believe that it was Je-Ho-Vah. In order to avoid saying the name some call him “Iod-He-Wav-He” because these are the Hebrew names of these four letters. It would be as if we had called him
“Why-Age-Doubleyou-Age”.

Moses said:
“Hear O Israel; YHWH Eloheinu, YHWH is One.”

And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you today, you shall hide in your heart.

And you shall impress them upon your children, and shall talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, and when you lie down and when you get up.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Because you are a holy people for YHWH your Elohim. You have been chosen by YHWH among all the people who are on earth to be his peculiar people.”
(Deut 6:4-9 and 7:6)

Thus has YHWH decided that his people should be called the Congregation of YHWH, in Hebrew this is EDAT YHWH. When YHWH sent Israel out among all nations, these nations were to become part of his people. They would then be part of his people Israel. And the promises that YHWH gave Israel are the laws that all peoples of the world shall obey. These laws are called the Torah. When the kingdom of YHWH comes, says the Bible:
“The Torah shall go forth from Zion, and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem.

And YHWH shall judge between the nations, and rule all nations. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall no more learn war.” Is 2:2-4

When YHWH called Moses, he was 80 years old and tending sheep for his father in law in the wilderness. Moses saw a bush that was on fire but the fire did not consume the bush. And out of the bush came a voice calling to him.

Moses approached the bush and was told to take off his shoes, for the place where he stood was holy ground. Moses was ordered to go to Egypt and free the people of Israel out of slavery and lead them out of Egypt to the land that YHWH had promised their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Eretz Israel, the land of Israel, was to be their property forever.

Moses asked: “When I come to Israel and say to them: The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me: What is his name? What answer shall I give them?”

And Elohim said to Moses:

“Ehiyeh Asher Ehiyeh”
“I am who I am”.

And he said: “This shall you say to Israel: “I AM” has sent me to you. YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has sent me to you. This [YHWH] is my name forever, and that you shall call me from generation to generation.” Deut 3:13-15.

The name YHWH was known from the first chapters of the Bible. It was the name that all our ancestors had called upon. Wherever they had built their altars for worship, they invoked the name of YHWH. And YHWH has said that:

“My people shall learn to know my name.” (Is 52:6)

“Give thanks to YHWH!
Call upon his name.
Declare his deeds among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted. Is 12:4

“Everyone who calls upon the name of YHWH shall be saved.” Joel 3:5. Acts 2:21
“For there is salvation in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven,
known among men whereby we may be saved.”
Acts 4:12

Yehoshua or Yeshua means YHWH’s Salvation.
This is the name of our Messiah and Saviour.

“I am YHWH. That is my name.” Is 42:8
“Our Redeemer - His name is YHWH.” Is 47:4
In the Old Testament, the Tanakh, the name YHWH occurs 6823 times, but it is systematically replaced with “Lord”. Similarly, in the New Testament, it is replaced and this is done in such a way that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between YHWH and Yeshua.

Thus part of the message of the “Shma” is declaring monotheism, that there is one god only. Many religions have polytheism, believing that there are several gods. Judaism and Islam are monotheistic. Christianity regards itself as monotheistic. It is, however, considered by Judaism and Islam as polytheistic because of its doctrine of “Trinity”, that there is “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, one God in one Trinity.”

The Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity must be read in full, to understand what it entails. For Yeshua there was only one Elohim and Father which is YHWH.
What you believe about Elohim, will also influence your model of reality, what you believe about everything between heaven and earth, including natural science. It is quite common that people have two concepts of reality, one for their religion, and one for science.

It is assumed that our two cerebral hemispheres perceive reality differently, the left analytical, and the right intuitive and symbolic. In between these two is “corpus callosum”, a nerve tissue that connects the two brain hemispheres and coordinate them. Natural science can then be assumed to lie within the domain of the left brain, and religion in the right brain. The task of the corpus callosum is thus to coordinate the two.

Religion often has to be perceived through symbols, which psychology calls “archetypes”, while science operates within the laws of mathematics and in logic and language. It is possible that people who have a preference for mathematics and logic have problems with the concepts of religion and dismiss them as nonsense.

On the other hand we may find that some religious people look at science as an enemy and mere materialism.

But all reality is in YHWH, and if we do not always manage to match both, it is still the same reality. The limitations are ours. Reality is one: Which is YHWH.

A believer’s image of God determines what will become of this person. A man’s god is his highest ideal. If his god is erratic, belligerent, vindictive, rash and self-centered, then the god’s worshipers will be in the same way. However, if a man’s god is good, caring, forgiving and peaceful and a good father, then the worshipers of this god will strive to be like this ideal. If I intend to be a better father than God, there is something wrong with my image of God and with my self-image.

We immediately see how the great religious movements down through history, even in our days, have equipped themselves with an image of God that may be criminal. To ascribe to YHWH such properties may cause a greater blasphemy than to create an image of stone or gold or wood, and to fall down and worship it.

In the mountains of the desert of Sinai, Moses received the two tablets with the Ten Commandments. When we quote the Ten Commandments, we often tend to omit the first sentence, the one that shows who is the legislator. “I am YHWH your Elohim ...”

The signature of YHWH is in the heading.

We note the ban on images in the first commandment:
You shall not make unto yourself any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them nor serve them.
The focus here is probably on the idols of wood, stone and metal and paintings of a god.

These were of course images of idols. The problem with an image of gods is idolatry. The ban would also be valid for making images of YHWH. Images may give people a feeling of creating their creator. This is obviously at the most primitive level, where it borders on idolatry. A more advanced, but therefore more relevant result is that it restricts the worshipper`s vision of YHWH. It can even be that he thinks his image has magical powers or divinity.

This has probably been the case in many Christian churches and cathedrals, and in many homes where the icons and images of Jesus, of Mary and of the saints have been used in worship. In Judaism and in the majority of Islam such images would be unthinkable.

But what about our mental images, our own idea of who YHWH is and of what YHWH is? Are our mental images limiting? Or are they open to the infinite and incomprehensible that is beyond all human capacity to understand?

Our “Image of God” should include recognition of our limitations compared to the infinite wisdom of YHWH, of his dimensions in time and in space. Here are a few quotes that point to this.

The first is King Solomon’s prayer after he had built the temple for YHWH:

“But does Elohim really live on earth?
Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less is this house which I have built” 1 Kings 8:27

Here we see the infinite and incomprehensible YHWH.
Rather than ask where in cosmos YHWH is, we may ask where in YHWH cosmos is located.
Nothing exists except in YHWH, for YHWH is the existence of all.
Even devils live only in YHWH from second to second.

YHWH has no competitors.
Satan himself is one of the sons of YHWH. Job 1:6

The second quotation is Paul`s words to the Greeks at the Areopagos:

“That they (the people) might search for God,
if they could feel and find him.
Yet he is not far away from any one of us.
For it is in him we live and move and have our being.”
Acts 17:27-28.

Here we see YHWH’s presence with us.
He knows every cell in our body.
He knows all our thoughts.
He knows our needs and our prayers before we ask.

This is shown in Ps 139

“YHWH, you search me,
and you know me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down.
You are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,
But, behold, YHWH, you know it altogether.

You hem me in behind and before.
You lay your hand upon me.
This knowledge is beyond me.
It is high. I cannot attain it.

Where could I go from your Spirit?
Or where could I flee from your presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

If I take the wings of the dawn,
and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand will lead me,
and your right hand will hold me.

If I say: Surely the darkness will overwhelm me.
The light around me will be night.
Even the darkness does not hide from you.
But the night shines as the day.
The darkness is like light to you.

You formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows that very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my body.
In your book they were all written,
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, Elohim!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

Search me, Elohim, and know my heart.
Try me, and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Our Father

YHWH is our Father. There is in the Jewish prayer book a prayer called “Avinu”, which means “Our Father”. When the disciples asked Yeshua to teach them to pray, he said “So shall you pray:

Our Father,

You that are in heaven!

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation.

But deliver us from evil.

For, yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Yeshua says here that:

YHWH is our Father, and it is to YHWH, we shall direct our prayers as Yeshua did.

Our Father is in heaven.

The name of YHWH shall be esteemed holy

YHWH’s kingdom shall come to the earth.

YHWH’s will, shall be the law in the kingdom of YHWH.

The Torah is the will of YHWH.

It is from YHWH, we get what we need from day to day, to live and to work.

YHWH forgives us our sins, and we must forgive each other.

We should pray that we shall not be tested beyond what we can bear.

YHWH can and will deliver us from evil.

It is YHWH, and YHWH alone, who has the authority,
the power and the glory.

This is true and certain.

Through all this we see that YHWH, as our Father, cares for us and that our simple prayer to him is like the children’s expectations of the care of their parents for them.

Yeshua told a parable to make us realize how close and secure a relationship we have with YHWH as our Father. Lk 15:11-32:

The parable about the prodigal son:

“A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father:

Father, give me the portion of the estate that falls to me! And he divided his property between them. And not many days afterwards, the younger son collected all that belonged to him, and he went to a distant land, where he spent his property in a careless living.

But when he had spent everything, there was a great famine in the country, and he began to suffer need. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And his desire was to fill his belly with the husks that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

But then he came to his senses and said:

How many hired servants of my father have plenty of bread, whereas I perish here from hunger!
I will arise and go to my father and say to him:
Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Let me be like one of your hired servants!

And he arose and came to his father.

But when he was still far off, his father saw him and had compassion on him. And he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to his servants:
Bring forth the best robe and put it on him and give him a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf and slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry! For this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and found. And they began to be merry.”

The son here is you and is me. Perhaps we have strayed away from YHWH and from righteousness. Then we come to our senses and want to come back to our confidence in relation to YHWH. When we arrive, we find that he is waiting for us.

There are no questions or reservations. YHWH sees our situation and loves us more than any father among us can love his children. The gate opens, the rags are removed, and a party garment comes on. Welcome home, my boy! We shall celebrate.

But Yeshua describes another son who has never done anything wrong. He has been at home and worked faithfully on the farm.

Now he sees this stupid brother who has messed up his entire inheritance, sees him get a reception and attention that he felt that he deserved more than his brother. So Yeshua continues.

“But the oldest son was in the field, and when he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this was. He said to him: Your brother has come, and your father slaughtered the fatted calf, because he got him back healthy.

Then he became angry and would not enter.
His father went out and spoke kindly to him.
But he answered and said to his father:

Behold, for so many years I have served you, and never have I disobeyed your orders. And I have never been given a kid so that I could be happy with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes; you slaughtered the fattened calf for him!

But he said to him:

My son! You are always with me, and all I have is yours.
But we should be glad and rejoice, because your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.”

Here are some words of advice for those who feel that they are YHWH’s best children. Our pride lies dormant, and the envy that admission and forgiveness are open to every sinner. His father’s words contain a mild reproach. But they contain more recognition and praise. And they go together to the welcome party for the returning son. This description of YHWH as a father is worth more than all theology. We are brothers and we have YHWH as our father.

Who are the children of YHWH?

The first chapters in the Bible describe the creation and how the two first human beings, Adam and Eve, were tempted by the serpent and sinned. They were exiled from their home in the Garden of Eden and they became mortal.

Lk 3:23-38 lists the forefathers of Yeshua all the way back to Adam and Eve. Yeshua often called himself “Ben Adam”, which we may translate “Son of Man”, but equally well “Son of Adam”. In Hebrew “ben-adam” means “human being” as well as “son of Adam”.
So Lk 3:38 ends the pedigree of Yeshua with: “...the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of Elohim”, or “...Ben Seth, Ben Adam, Ben Elohim”.

According to the Bible you are also a “Ben Adam, Ben YHWH”, or if you are female you are “Bat Chawah, Bat YHWH” a daughter of Eve and a daughter of YHWH, because you descend from YHWH. Thus all human beings are the children of YHWH whether they know it or not, and whether they want to be so or not. Thus the congregation of YHWH consists of all human beings.

When Noah and his family had survived the flood of waters, YHWH made a covenant with them, with Noah and his three sons and Noah`s wife and the three wives of the sons. According to the Bible all human beings descend from Noah and his wife. The covenant was valid eternally. Thus you are included in this covenant, whether you want to be so or not.

But not only are we humans included in this covenant.

Read about it here:

Elohim spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying:
“As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every animal of the earth with you.

Of all that go out of the ark, even every animal of the earth. I will establish my covenant with you.”

Elohim said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh.” Gen 9:8-16

According to the Bible all living creatures that live today descend from those in the days of Noah.

Thus not only all human beings, but all living creatures are from creation and from the days of Noah and for all eternity the children of YHWH and in this eternal covenant.

Once when Yeshua taught the people of Judea, some came to him with young children.
Mt 19:13-15:

“They brought young children to him, so that he could lay their hands on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked them.
But Yeshua said:
Let the little children be, and do not hinder them from coming to me!
For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
And he laid his hands on them and went from there.”

These were not small Christian children who were brought up to the baptismal font. Christianity did not exist then. These were Jewish children, and they were not baptised. Yeshua said that they were already children of YHWH. And Yeshua laid hands on them and received them. In Yeshua`s eyes they were as much the children YHWH as he was the son of YHWH.