CONTROVERSY OVER USAGE 

There is some controversy over the usage, or should I say lack of usage, of this sacred name. 
Some contend that Hebrew words such as "Elohim" and "Adonai" as well as Greco/Romanized words like "Theos" and "Kyrios", that have been translated into our English Bibles as "God" and "Lord", were just generic terms that should never have been substituted for "Yehovah" - God's proper name. 
Though the Tetragrammaton does not appear in the vast majority of the English translations in use today, most of these do emphasize the word "LORD" or "GOD" (all letters capitalized), to indicate where the sacred name was originally used. 
A similar objection is also raised for the substitution of the Greco/Romanized name, Jesus, for the true birth given Hebrew name of our Savior - Yehoshua {yeh-ho-shoo'-ah}. 
Many assert that the very earliest New Testament writings only used the Tetragrammaton when referring to the God of the Old Testament, and Yehoshua when referring to Jesus.  Since none of these earliest texts exist, there is no way of knowing to what extent this was true. 
The most ancient New Testament document in existence was discovered in 1931; it was written in Koine' (common Greek) which was spoken and understood everywhere throughout the Roman Empire during Apostolic times.  It contained the same usages of these names as were found in later Greek texts which have been translated into English as "God", "Lord", and "Jesus". 
Certainly I believe that all Bible teachers and students alike should be aware of the true Hebrew names of our Father and our Savior, as well as the proper incidence of their Biblical usage - 
But I find fault in those who insist that these other renderings are just generic terms that should not be used. 
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance tells us: 
Jesus in Greek, is of Hebrew origin and is taken from the name Yehoshua, which in English is translated as Joshua. 
Yehoshua, in Hebrew means "Yehovah Saves". 
Christ - in Greek, is Christos, meaning the Anointed One - or the Messiah. 

In Hebrew, Mashach means to anoint - 
This is the root of the word Mashiyach (the Anointed One) - or the Messiah. 
Both names mean exactly the same thing, so I see nothing wrong with their usage- 
Jesus (Yehoshua) Christ (Mashiyach) 
Elohim, the Hebrew word translated into English as God, is not just a "generic" term. 
It is a uniplural and connotes more than one being - 
This very descriptive word begins to give us an understanding of who and what God is. 
The implication is that Elohim is a Family of beings. 
John 1:1-3 sheds even further light on this truth. 
Here, we are told specifically, that in the beginning, even before there were angels, there were two personages that comprised the Godhead: 
Theos - "The God", 
And The Logos - "The Word" or spokesman of "The God". 
It goes on to say that the Word was also Divine or Godlike. 
Again, these are not just meaningless terms but are words that give us an understanding of the Godhead by their very description of God's nature, character and being. 
In fact, this very understanding is essential in being able to answer the real question at hand. 
 
 

WHO IS YEHOVAH? 

As the Gospel of John has established, the Godhead is composed of two Godly beings: 
Theos - "The God" and "The Logos" - God's spokesman - 

Yehovah is simply their surname - and applies to both these personages of the God Family - just as every member of any family all have the same last name. 
"For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named"   (Ephesians 3:19) 
Today mainstream churches teach that this sacred name only and always refers to God The Father - 

But an unbiased study of God's Word reveals something to the contrary.  In fact scripture reveals that far more often than not, the sacred name is referring (not to the Father), but to His Spokesman - The Word - the second personage of the Godhead. 
The Old Testament also corroborates John's Gospel account that two beings compose the Godhead - or God Family, which more accurately describes them. 
"...with the clouds of heaven there came ONE LIKE THE SON OF MAN, and he came to the ANCIENT OF DAYS...and to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom..." (Dan 7:13) 
     In Exodus one of these beings called Yehovah, "The God of Israel", spoke face to face with Moses and Moses did not die: 
"Thus the Lord [Yehovah] used to speak to Moses face to face as man speaks to his friend." (Ex 33:11) 
Later, 70 elders of Israel also saw Yehovah and did not die: 
"Then Moses and Aaron...and 70 elders..saw the God of Israel...they beheld God, and ate and drank." (Ex 24:9-11) 
So if Scripture tells us that Moses and the 70 elders of Israel spoke face to face with Yehovah as a man speaks to his friend - 
Who do the following scriptures apply to? 
"Moses said, 'I pray thee, show me thy glory.' " (Ex 33:17) 
And God (also Yehovah) answered him saying: 
 "...you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live." 
 "...I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen." (Ex 33:20-23) 
Obviously, Yehovah, the God being who had spoken face to face and even suppered with Moses and the 70 elders of Israel, can not be this God being (also called Yehovah) that is now telling Moses that "he can not see His face and live." 
Again it is clear that there are two Godly beings that share the name Yehovah.
Jesus also tells us many times in scripture that - 
NO ONE has SEEN HIS FATHER, or even HEARD HIS VOICE: 
"His voice you have never heard, his form you have not   seen..."  John 5:37 
Again scripture verifies that the sacred name "Yehovah", refers to more than one being. 

In this case, the being that functions in the capacity of fulfilling God's will through His spoken command of the Holy Spirit; the Power by which and through which, the God Family accomplishes all its works. 
So, since Jesus states emphatically that NO ONE had ever heard his Father's voice- 
Who was speaking to Moses? 
Obviously it was the second being of the Godhead, he who John identified as God's Spokesman, who talked with Moses on God's behalf. 
Isn't that exactly what a spokesmen's function is - 
How much clearer could it be? 
The following verses further substantiate this - 
"No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the 
bosom of the Father, HE HAS MADE HIM KNOWN."  John 1:18 
"Not that anyone has seen the Father, except him who is 
from God; he has seen the Father."  John 6:46 
Christ's own words confirm that the Father never spoke directly to, nor was ever seen (other than his back) by any human being.  Only He - Jesus - the Word - God's Spokesman, has ever made God's will or presence known to mankind. 
It was always He - that spoke to us on his Father's behalf - 
And He who was known to the Israelites as the God of Abraham. 
For as He told the Pharisees: 
"Before Abraham was, I am."  Jn 8:58 
Here Jesus plainly states that He was the "I AM" - 
The being that Moses and the seventy elders of Israel saw and spoke with. 
The same being that brought Israel out of bondage - 
"For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed 
them, and the Rock was Christ"  (1Cor 10:4) 
Was indeed He who released us all from the bondage of sin - 
The second member of the God Family - "Yehovah" - 
The God of Israel - 
The Rock which followed them - 
Our Fathers Spokesman - 
Yehoshua - 
Our Savior - 
Jesus Christ!