YAHWEH is the name of God

In the Bible, God is known by nearly thousand different names. Yahweh stands out from all of these names. Exodus 3 tells the origin of the name. In the story, Moses hears God's voice through the burning bush, telling him the ultimate mission which was to free his people from slavery in Egypt.

Among Moses' concerns is how to convince the Israelites that this truly is a mission from God and blessed by Him.

The Character and Nature of God revealed in his name

There was a great deal of importance attached to names during that time. They can indicate a person's disposition, goals in life, and more.

To know God’s character and nature, Moses asks God on how to respond to the Israelites' question about who sent him. This will ensure that the miraculous story he's about to tell them is trustworthy.

 

Understanding Yahweh's meaning will allow us to learn more about the nature and attributes of God. Yahweh has many different definitions and these are some of the best:

Love, Desire, or Passion

God reveals his name to Moses as “I am” from the Hebrew root, “being.” The name YHWH, however, originates in Midian, and derives from the Arabic term for “love, desire, or passion.”

In 1956, Shelomo Dov Goitein (1900-1985), a scholar of both Jewish and Arabic studies, suggested that the name derives from the Arabic root h.w.y (هوى), and the word hawaya (هوايا), which means “love, affection, passion, desire.” He connected this suggestion with the passage in Exodus 34, in a set of laws known by scholars as the Ritual Decalogue. One of the laws forbids Israel to worship other gods. 

The name of Yahweh means Impassioned

This means that we are forbidden to worship any other gods outside of Yahweh, as the name of Yahweh means Impassioned. It reflects Yahweh’s passionate love for his worshipers and his anger towards them if they worship other gods.

Written by Prof. Israel Knohl - the Yehezkel Kaufmann Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Here's the complete article: 

https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-the-original-arabic-meaning-of-the-name

The Lord Saves

The majority opinion today is that “Yahweh” is the original pronunciation and that it is a verbal name meaning “He is.”. Yahweh is translated “Lord” in the NIV (New International Version). 

To understand how “Lord” came to be used as a translation of Yahweh, some attention must be given to the Greek word kyrios, one of whose meanings is “lord.” This is the standard word for Yahweh (“Lord”) in the Septuagint (the ancient pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament) and in the New Testament.

God's holy name is a constant reminder of his faithfulness to his promises.

It was further discussed that the significance of God's holy name is a constant reminder of his faithfulness to his promises. It is God's will to save, help, deliver, redeem, bless, and keep a covenant with his people. We can see that the Hebrew name Joshua and Greek name Jesus both preserve the abbreviated form of Yahweh, meaning ‘The Lord Saves’.

Here's the complete article: 

https://www.thenivbible.com/blog/what-does-yahweh-mean-in-the-bible/

Too Sacred To Be Uttered

Yahweh, the god of the Israelites, whose name was revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) called the Tetragrammaton.

After the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE), and especially from the 3rd century BCE on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal rather than merely a local religion, the more common Hebrew noun Elohim (plural in form but understood in the singular), meaning “God,” tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel’s God over all others.

At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai (“My Lord”), which was translated as Kyrios (“Lord”) in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Several changes to God’s name were explained in this article from The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. Here's the complete article: 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yahweh

Yahweh means “ I am who I am”

God’s Name Is Almost Always Translated Lord In The English Bible. But the Hebrew would be pronounced something like “Yahweh,” and is built on the word for “I am.”

So every time we hear the word Yahweh, or every time you see ‘LORD’ in the English Bible, you should think: this is a proper name (like Peter or John) built out of the word for “I am” and reminding us each time that God absolutely is. 

Written by John Piper - the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Taking inspiration from "I AM WHO I AM", he described the 10 things the name Yahweh, "I AM," tells us about God.  Here's the complete article: 

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/10-things-yahweh-means

Yahweh Is the Self-Existent, Eternal God

Exodus 3:13-15 is the first Biblical usage of the name “Yahweh,” and we can see at the end of the passage that it is the name by which God has chosen to be remembered throughout all generations.

The English language doesn’t have an exact translation of the word “Yahweh,” so in our Old Testament we see it written as “LORD” in all capital letters.

Yahweh is reserved exclusively as a name for God.

In Jewish tradition, “Yahweh” is too sacred a name to utter out loud. Over time Jews started to substitute in “Adonai,” or “My Lord,” especially when speaking. Another common replacement is the name “Elohim,” which simply means “God.” What’s interesting is that these two replacement names are both used for other things as well, not just God, whereas Yahweh is reserved exclusively as a name for God.

If we want to truly understand him, we need to dwell on his chosen name. His mystery makes him worth seeking. Check the 7 Meanings of Yahweh and Why It's Such an Important Name for God written by Jenna Martin. Here's the complete article: 

https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/why-it-matters-that-god-is-yahweh.html

There is always more to learn about God. Be more connected to Him. Getting closer to God should help us understand the meaning of our existence, our purpose in life and how we should live our lives.