It's more than a Name

Words can be heavy and carry weight Malcom X said if you ever want to hide something put it in a book. There are words we can say that end conversations with sour taste in our mouth. There are words or names we call each other and they invoke anger and hostility to the point we say those are fighting words. We spend so much time dealing with the connotation of some wordan rather than the denotation of the word.

Connotation is an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning Oxford languages goes on to use the example the the word discipline has unhappy connotations of punishment and repression……

Denotation is he literal or primary meaning of a word. In contrast to feelings or ideas that the word suggests Oxford goes on to say beyond their immediate denotation words have a connotative power.

What’s in a name the N-word is a name that stirs up emotion. Nigga negro nigger depending on who says it and how it is used the connotative powers of the word can stir up positive or negative emotions.

The simple denotation is that the first slave ships needed a way to describe their cargo. The archaic Latin language being universal at the time uses a variation of the n-word much in the same way Spanish does in describing the color black.

I believe it is much in the same way that institutions with a human resource categorize that resource. People could have similar or even the same name so you replace that name with a number.

It’s easier to fire a number and harder to mistreat people. Without a name you can remove the identity, and without an identity you can dilute understanding. We have people to this day that feel as though they are lost because of the name they have. I have even heard that this is not who we are because this is the name the slave master gave us.

The connotation of the word nigger stirs up emotions of anger when said by a particular segment of the population. I believe that the worse part of the word falls in the simple denotation of it. The word in itself was not intended to imply inferiority it was not meant to suggest something less than.

Thru the years it has sparked debate and transformed in definition just as the people who carry and use the moniker have. No no no the worse part is that we came to be synonymous with cargo, and more particular the cargo that would build this great country. My country tis of sweet land of liberty, but we have had to scratch and claw for everything.

Yet by the Grace of God we have made it and are thriving. Some would say we are doing so well that we don’t need that black book of magic. Big mama’s prayers didn’t leave the room, but it wasn’t God that pulled us thru rather it was self.

The Bible may seem outdated and antiquated to some. I believe the rapper Krs-1 has even started his own movement, and even said as much. The rapper himself has his rooted belief in the Hare Kristha movement type philosophy. In essence he like so many others would believe one thing while teaching another they have a word for that.

The surprising thing is that while so many beliefs build on the denouncing of Christianity it in itself denounces none. The Christian Bible rather focuses on the truth, and the revealing of God to His people. Surely my brothers and sisters we understand that the truth stands by itself, and needs no help. It is a belief that is founded on love: for in its pages it states to know God is to Love God.

That word God is more than just a name. We believe that the God of the Christian Bible the God of the Torah the Tanakh even the Quran are speaking of the same God. Don’t get it twisted and let the words fool you. We read a translation of writings that contrary to popular belief didn’t originate in America during colonial times. The slave master as some would tell are not its writers, and thus this is not merely a white mans religion. This is a call to the people of God regardless to what shade or hue you are, and he Bible is a book for all of Gods people.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” That word God is a translation of an archaic word Elohim. Elohim is a plural composite made of two words he one word simply being El. El in itself means God and Eloah is the singular. Elohim is monotheistic in connotation yet in structure it denotes polytheism. It is one of several words the Hebrew people used to describe or call on their God.

Let us be clear it is more than just a name, because I can’t just say God without thoughts running thru my head. When those thoughts get the best of me I can simply say God is good……

Islam and the Quran refer to God as Allah but that is even a generic word. The only difference is that it was never translated when given to English speaking seekers contrary to the Holy Bible which translates the names of God.

Britannica.com records that etymologically the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic Al-llah meaning the God. Yet it goes on to say it’s origins can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for Gods was il, el, or eloah and the latter 2 used in the Hebrew Bible.

What if I told you that Muslims haven’t always prayed to Mecca. In fact what if I told you that Muhammad himself prayed to Jerusalem, and believed that he was given the final call to the Bible.

The Bible surely stands alone a book that was written over some 4000 plus years, and still seems to be in unison. The Bible is so much in line that we can only say man wrote the Bible, and intrinsically the Bible agrees. 2 Peter 1:21 says it like this “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The Bible is made of an Old Testament and a new testament; a old contract and a new contract. Nevertheless the promises remain the same, and can even be found in the Quran. Those are promises of protection peace and even blessings.

The Bible of Christians picks up where there seems to have been 400 years of silence in Hebrew prophecy. I believe that between Malachi and Matthew you’ll find around 400 hundred years, but God was still working. The Quran was written around 600 years after the Bible , and instead of 1500+ years it was written in roughly 23.

I’m convinced that Hebrew Muslims and we who were grafted in believe in the same God. We were grafted in to be Christ like and call ourselves Christians, and it’s more than just a name. We believe that we are more than conquerors and we can do all things in Christ.

Hebrew or Jewish people believe that God may have many names, but the sacred name not to be uttered was revealed to them. You need only go to Exodus 6:3 to find the scripture saying “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” The name was considered so sacred that it was only known by the letters YHWH YaHWaH so it wouldn’t be uttered.

The Bible stands so much alone that it states we should let every man work out their own salvation be it with fear and trembling. Some folks have taken that literally, and decided to become their own Gods. Yet I read somewhere that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. I read somewhere that it is appointmentEd unto every man to die, and after the death comes the judgement. My brothers and sisters I believe on that great judgement day in the words of Bizzle it will be hard to stay a god when you facing God.

I believe that there is one true God, and He has revealed Himself unto mankind. The Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament speak of the coming of a Savior. The Quran talks about Jesus having all the words of God. The Christian speaks of that Savior having manifested himself in the Logos the word of God.

We have come to that crossroads where Islam Christianity and Judaism differ. Jews are still waiting on the Savior to come Muslims just like Jehovah witnesses think He was a great man a prophet even.

Christians believe Hebrews 2:9 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”