try to not be dogmatic with my religious views, but whenever a particular controversy boils down to whether or not we honor our Heavenly Father, I tend to make an exception. Whether or not we honor Yahweh by referring to Him as "God" or "our God" is one such controversy. In my estimation, it's a controversy that should never have been. Those who support referring to Yahweh as "God" come up with many of what I have found to be baseless arguments aimed at defending their position and naturally those who are already entrenched in referring to Yahweh as "God" accept these arguments hands down without question. In 2001, my wife and I authored a study titled "Do We Honor Yahweh by Referring to Him as 'Our God'?"  Our study grew from a relatively short rebuttal to an expanded version totaling over 100 pages in 2001. But the protests kept coming, so by 2010 it had grown to over 200 pages, all because we do our best to address every. single. argument. Our bottom line premise is sooooo simple: Our Heavenly Father Yahweh, in the book of Isaiah, specifically identifies an idol named "God" for whom unregenerate heathens prepared tables with offerings. In the very next verse, these same people are condemned. In summary, since Yahweh condemns the worship of an idol named God, it cannot possibly honor Yahweh to either call Him God or refer to Him as "our God." It's that simple.

     The problem with the verses I just referenced is the fact that Bible translators cleverly chose to not transliterate the three names that appear in those verses. In other words, they covered up the names. The term for this, of course, is "cover-up" and, incredibly, the majority of Bible believers have fallen for the cover-up. The verses I'm referring to are found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 65. Yahweh, through the prophet Isaiah, addresses the rebellious Israelites, who have completely abandoned Him and His ways. In verses 9-10, He pauses to reflect on a remnant who have sought Him, concluding, "Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me."

     In verse 11, He resumes His denunciation, but beware of the various translations of this verse! Here's how the verse reads with all the names restored and transliterated:

11But ye are they that forsake Yahweh, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for God, and that furnish the drink offering unto Meni.

     Here's the judgment that Yahweh pronounces on these rebellious heathens:

12Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spoke, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

     As displayed in verse 11, we are presented with three names. The main one is Yahweh, the creator of the universe. The others are God and Meni. Truly, if nearly everyone referred to Yahweh as their Meni, my wife and I would have titled our original study "Do We Honor Yahweh by Referring to Him as Meni"? But most people have no idea who or what Meni is.They DO know who God is, or at least they think they do. Is God the creator of the universe or is Yahweh? According to Isaiah 65:11, God is not the name of the Creator; rather, God is the name of a false deity—an idol—whose worship the true Creator, Yahweh, condemns in no uncertain terms.

     When you consider the above facts, shouldn't we wonder how and why we could possibly honor our Heavenly Father by referring to Him as "God"? Does it make sense to say, "I know Yahweh condemns the worship of an idol named 'God,' but Yahweh is my God!"? This is what I consider convoluted reasoning. If Yahweh defines "God" as a false idol, then who are we to say, "Well, that's not what 'God' means to ME!"?  Is our reasoning superior to Yahweh's?  If we don't like Yahweh's definition, does that make it okay for us to determine the meaning pleases us the most?  Is this about us or is it about Yahweh?

     So that's why I say the controversy over whether or not we honor Yahweh by referring to Him as "God" or "our God" is a controversy that should never have been. We shouldn't even THINK about overriding or otherwise circumventing Yahweh's definition.

     Yet, that's what I have been up against for over 20 years. When I share my personal conviction in the presence of those who refer to Yahweh as "God," I have been yelled at, ridiculed and at a recent gathering a woman glared at me as though she considered me to be Satan in the flesh. That's why June and I personally try to avoid gatherings attended by those who do not share our conviction. They usually end with strife.

     That's precisely what happened at a recent Feast of Tabernacles to which we were invited in October 2022. At first I declined because I know the assembly where the feast was to be held freely uses "God" in reference to the Creator. The person who extended us the invitation reassured me that those who were sponsoring this feast do not refer to Yahweh as "God" and that the actual leaders of the host assembly would be attending a feast elsewhere. While I found that particular arrangement peculiar, my initial apprehension dissipated and I decided to attend. In advance of the feast, the man who invited me asked me to give an encore presentation on this very topic. It's a PowerPoint presentation that I had delivered at a different feast site over a year earlier, titled "Tracing the Origin of the Word 'God,'" which is actually a 5-part presentation. I agreed to his proposal.  Due to time constraints, I was only able to give the first three parts and Part 3 was given as the very last message of the feast.

     Well, it turns out I was inadvertently misled into believing the feast organizers didn't refer to Yahweh as "God." The main organizers consisted of a father/son duo. The father, who is a congenial sort, offered a mild protest after my first presentation, suggesting that the English "God" evolved separately from the "God" referenced in Isaiah 65:11. That argument was addressed and refuted in my second presentation, where I point out that many scholars agree the English "God" is a borrowed word—borrowed from pagan idol worship. Eighteenth century scholar Daniel Fenning, in his two-volume work A New System of Geography, delves into how the Germans borrowed "God" as a contracted form of the Lombardic deity Godan, and that's how this word/name made its way into the English vocabulary. A screen capture from page 140 of his book is displayed below. Thus, even if the English word "God" isn't ultimately traced to the worship of the idol whose worship is condemned by Yahweh, then at best it is traced to the name of yet another false deity. So it didn't "just spring into existence" in the English language—either way you look at it, the word "God" was borrowed from heathen idol worship.

     It was after my third presentation when the most opposition was presented in the person of the son of the main organizer. After each of my presentations, time was allowed for questions; I addressed them all and for the most part there was little dissension. But after the third one, the organizer's son approached. His first question was posed in derisive fashion: How do I address the fact that God is one of the names on the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:12)? This is a frequent question, but it's one I don't address until Part 4 of my presentation; nevertheless, I summarized my point that the names on those 12 gates are the names of men, and none of those men is or was worthy to have his name redefined or otherwise converted into a title for the Creator of the universe; moreover, out of all those 12 tribes, "God" is the only one that is without doubt derived from the name of a heathen idol (as covered in Part 2). I asked, "Why not call Yahweh our 'Dan' (judge)? Why not refer to Him as our 'Reuben' (behold a son)? After all, it is through the gift of His Son that we have the hope of eternal life. Why not call Him our 'Simeon' (hearing, hearing with acceptance)? Doesn't Yahweh hear the cries of His children? This answer didn't satisfy the organizer's son; in fact, he interrupted my answer before I was finished. He then went on a tangent of how "God" doesn't mean "idol of fortune" to him, which brings us back to the redefining aspect. In other words, just because Yahweh defines "God" as a false idol whose worship He specifically condemns, that's not what it means to the guy who confronted me after my presentation. He doesn't like Yahweh's definition. I felt his disrespectful approach, replete with interruptions, was a hostile one and told him so.

     Afterwards, the young man approached me privately in a superficial attempt to dissuade any hard feelings, while simultaneously making it clear he sees nothing wrong with referring to Yahweh as God. Well, I certainly mean no ill will towards anyone, and even before I gave my presentation I made it clear that I condemn no one because that's not my job. All I do is seek to honor Yahweh the best I can. Nevertheless, during our parting conversation, I asked him if he believes Exodus 23:13 (and Joshua 23:7) refers to specifically pronouncing the names of false deities. I understand the believers of Old, such as Elijah, mentioned the names of false deities, but only in a disparaging manner. If God is the name of a false idol and we use that name as a title for the Creator, that's not speaking it in a disparaging manner—instead, it's attributing honor to that name/title. To my surprise, the man does not believe the Torah command to not mention the names of other elohim involves pronouncing their names. Rather, in his estimation, we are not to mention their authority. I find this interpretation both appalling and ridiculous, but this is the length some folks will go to in order to justify what they have been programmed to believe. Let's take a close look at Exodus 23:13:

13And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other elohim, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

     Now if someone can tell me how we can mention a false idol's "authority" without its name being heard out of our mouths, please do tell! How do we know whose "authority" we're mentioning if we don't include the name? But yes, that was his argument. I know the Hebrew word shem (שׁם) can, in certain contexts, include a meaning of authority, as in "I come in the name of Yahweh," but the fact that the speaker comes in anyone's authority means nothing if we don't reveal whose authority it is! So God is the name first attributed to a pagan idol (identified as such by Yahweh Himself), it's the name of an idol that the Hebrew scholars who translated the Septuagint's Isaiah 65:11 rendered as demon, but it's currently a name commonly attributed to the Creator of the universe. Only a few Bible students understand that Bible translators actually used it as a title to replace the Hebrew title Elohim in English translations of the Old Testament. I was personally taught from my youth that God is the Creator's name, which of course, is a lie, and many continue to perpetuate that lie to this day.

     I might add that even King David disagreed with the feast organizer's son's interpretation of Exodus 23:13. Notice what King David wrote in Psalms 16:4:

4Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another elohim: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names on my lips.

     If the son of that feast organizer can explain how King David managed to pronounce the names of false elohim without their names being taken up on his lips, I would love to hear it. Does he actually believe we are not to take up their authority on our lips?

     I am truly saddened by this world and how mankind has been duped so many ways, including referring to the Almighty as GOD, the very name of an idol whose worship He condemns. The common approach is, "Never mind what Yahweh says, it's what it means to ME that matters!" Or so they reason.

     I have encountered so many arguments favoring calling the Creator "God," but until the Feast of Tabernacles 2022 I had never heard anyone say that the command to not mention the names of other elohim actually means mentioning their "authority."

    As an addendum to the above, I thought I should point out that the young man who ridiculed my presentation is of Jewish heritage. Although I doubt he and I will ever cross paths again, it occurred to me to look up a Jewish Torah commentary called The Chumash and see how medieval Jewish commentators regarded the word "name" as it appears in Exodus 23:13 (see scanned image on the left). Although English-speaking Jews in these modern times freely and commonly refer to the Almighty as "God," their forebears most certainly expressed dire opposition to uttering the names of idols. Like it or not, the name "God" is the name of an idol whose worship Yahweh condemns.

     If you truly believe referring to Yahweh as God honors Him, as many do, then I maintain you either do so in ignorance or in rebellion. To Yahweh be all honor, majesty and authority!