Q:  I see a lot of you people avoid using title or if you do you put dashes.  G-d and L-rd.  What is the purpose of that?

A: You people?  First off, I am not "you people", we are not all the same, but if you mean, You people, as in true and serious worshipers of YaHshua?  If you mean "you people" as in those seeking the truth and the wisdom of the Bible as opposed to the vain wisdom of the world, then, fine.  But even "we the people", as in We the People of the Living God, do not all agree on the very same thing.  We the People of the Living God do not see things at exactly the same time.  Yes, I know of other brothers and sisters who abhor the used of titles, and terms like, Lord and God, but as you can see I do not hold the same opinion.

It is believed by some that these title references are actual names of other beings or idols -- other gods.  Yes, that this title, God, is actually the name of a .... god or diety, or elohim.  Not meaning to offend anyone, but, yes, the term, el and elohim are not names either.  If we are to take terms like Lord and God and Elohim as names then there is a real problem.  For one, the term most all who hate the term, god, or lord, and insist that those are name, God and Lord -- G-d and L-rd, then taking El and Elohim as names too, then it must be accepted that those Hebrew Terms were inherited from the language of Canaan, and that as names these were in reference to dieties they wo1rshiped that of this Earth and not of Heaven.  In trying to correct one received error another is made.  

In defense of those attempting to keep away from the names and naming other diety, we find this command in the Old Covenant:

First, it is the invoking or the calling on of other names than our Creator, YaHWeH and our Savior, YaHshua.  The purest form would be to never let such names cross our lips.  But, those are not names, and as mentioned already, if they are names and treated as such, then what is the replacement?  El or Elohim?  Some have seen the truth in this, and have resorted to using the dash method, for the sake of communication, such as, G-d and L-rd.  Which is a futile gesture and demonstrates the predicament many coming to the Holy Name or our Creator and Savior must face.  But, in one of the verses quoted you see that the prophet of YaHWeH does use and say, Baal, even Baals, in plural.  And in many other places througout the Scriptures you will find such examples.  Also, if you go to the context of these verses you will find that this command was specific to Isarel, for all of their generation.  On the other hand, if you are inclined to INVOKE any of these generic terms as actual names of other deity, then of course, you are not doing something that is pleasing to the real Diety, to the Living Diety.   Even our Savior, whose name we should know, is called a Lord, which is to say, Master or Owner, and or, Boss --

There are many other verses we could go to but that would take all the fun out of your own search into this matter.  This short answer is to motivate you to look into your own Bible and come to an understanding for yourself.

Ther titles and terms are generic in nature and can refer to other diety, or supreme beings, whether real or not.  Some terms that were once names have passed down and degraded to a lesser term that can be applied to just about anything, real or imagined.  Even Satan himself is called and elohim, or god --

Send any comments or questions to:  dan@servantsofyahshua.com