Yahweh.  The name of God especially revealed to Moses when God met him on Mount Sinai (Ex. 3:1-4:17).  Yahweh is the spelling most scholars assign to the four Hebrew consonants YHWH.  It is a form of the verb “to be.”  In Exodus 3:14 it is translated as I AM.  The meaning of this name is “The Self-Existent One.”  This name of God is particularly associated with His desire to enter into a covenant with His people (Gen. 12:1-3; Ex. 19:1-8).

Top

Yahweh of Troops. A compound name of God emphasizing His warlike attributes, usually translated, "LORD of hosts." The appelation "Yahweh of Troops" appears 266 times in the OT. "Yahweh" (Yahveh, 3068) is the Self-Existing One who formed a special relation with the nation of Israel (Exod. 3:13-17; 19:1-6). The plural word "Troops" or "Hosts" (tsaba, 6635) is a military term referring to "armies" or, much more often in the NASB, "hosts." I prefer the word "troops" to the word "hosts" because the latter is an archaic expression. The term tsaba likely refers to the angelic warriors at Yahweh's disposal. Jesus could have requested twelve legions of angels to come to His defense (Matt. 26:53), but He elected rather to submit to death as part of the Father's will. When Jesus returns innumerable angels will constitute the "armies of heaven" who descend to earth with Him (Rev. 19:14). When Elisha's servant was paralyzed with fear by the Syrian army, God opened his eyes and he saw the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17). These undoubtedly visually represented to the servant a contingent of the angelic troops of Yahweh. The phrase "Yahweh of Troops" indicates that God is a Sovereign, Warlike being who, in the end, will tolerate no insubordination either from human enemies or demonic enemies. God will win and will ultimately vanquish all His foes through Messiah Jesus (Rev. 12:9; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 19:20; 20:10-15).

Top

Yod. The Hebrew letter Yod is the tenth letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (alphabet), and has the numeric value of 10. It has a "Y" sound. The letter is prononced "yode," rhyming with "mode." Yod is the most frequently occurring letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, and it is also the smallest. In the table below, Yod is pictured singly on the left, and appears on the right in red at the beginning of the Hebrew Proper Name for God, Yahweh.

Top

Young Earth Creationism (YEC). The belief that God created the Earth in the very recent past, geologically speaking. Young Earth Creationists (YECers) essentially include anyone who believes the earth was created anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. YECers hold to a literal six-day creation week. They take the position that Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a historical narrative, and statistically cannot be assigned to the genre of poetry. YECers also hold that the genealogies of Genesis 5:1-32 and Gen. 11:10-32 have no gaps or virtually no gaps (see the following off-site link). YECers also hold that the Flood of Noah (Genesis 7:1-8:22) was a global deluge, and that it accounts for the different sedimentary strata that evolutionists insist were laid down over millions of years. In short, YECers employ a literal hermeneutic, reading the text in a straightforward manner, just as it was written. YECers maintain that many scientific evidences actually support a young earth (for example, see Young earth evidence and Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth). They are not cowed by evolutionary dogmatism (see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed) into adjusting exegesis to accommodate ever-changing scientific interpretations. WordExplain holds solidly to Young Earth Creationism. Answers in Genesis is an organization that espouses a young earth from both a scientific and biblical point of view.  Biblical Young Earth Creationism is a web page that links to resources espousing a young earth. See also Evidence Supporting a Recent Creation. See also Center for  Scientific Creation and Institute for Creation Research.

Top