"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his name in vain." Exodus 20: 7
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In the Old Testament book of Exodus, there are ten
statutes on which the Law of God to man is based.
There are many other judgments, decrees, statutes,
testimonies and instructions in Scripture. None seem
to carry the weight of the ten. Other laws, beside the
"Ten," and wisdom from the Lord, in his Word, give
us tools we need to live well pleasing to Him.
Tonight we zero in on what is commonly called the
third commandment. "Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain..." There are those who
teach the Law of God given in the part of our Bible
called the Old Testament,(or Covenant) is no longer
valid. Jesus in Matthew 5: 17-18, "Think not that
I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am
not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled." Since the only True and Living God is
immutable, changeless, can His moral Law or his
Commandments be altered?
It is quite unsettling for the child of God to be in
the presence of persons who are casual about the use
of terminology referring to our God, Jesus Christ, the
Holy Spirit of God or those things that belong to Him.
When there is blatant use of language demeaning our
Lord or using his name in profanity, our insides seem
to revolt. It is evident from Scripture that our Lord
holds his name sacred, and will not countenance any
misuse of that Holy name. Admittedly, our Lord's
name is not "God." That is his station or position,
but even as one hears the word "God" misused, since
our God is the only True and Living God, there is
much trepidation. When the Word is combined with
a curse, it seems the more egregious. Even "OMG"
makes one uncomfortable if he holds that name to be
Sacred, considering the power and sanctity of that
Holy name.
The personal application we get from this; must lead
to a more careful use of his name and since we are
dealing with the Most High God, the Creator, Sustai-
ner and Judge of all creation, I have no desire to
offend Him, or "the least of these." (Matthew 25:40)
It is my understanding, the Jewish interpretation of
this command prevents a follower of Judaism from
calling or writing the name of God, therefore YHWH
is used. That is something to consider...
Just one more principle; There is another way we
may take the name of the Lord in vain. Some even
say this is the primary meaning, or direction of the
command. There are those, and I have been one,
who made professions of faith in Christ, but did not
display Christlike traits in their lives. They (we)
attempted to live a life as a "Christian" in our own
abilities or "flesh." The life of Christ may only be
lived successfully, as one consciously relies on the
Spirit of Jesus Christ to live that life within. There
must be a time in life when one comes in prayer to
our Lord, confessing the inability to live success-
fully this new life, and ask for His power (the Holy
Spirit) to indwell, and take control of the life we
are incapable of living on our own, in the flesh. It
must be lived "in the Spirit." (See Ephesians 4: 30)
By consciously relying upon our Lord every day
to live in us, studying God's Word and associating
with like minded followers of Jesus Christ, we may
become the faithful followers He intended us to be.
Anything less is taking that Holy Name in vain.
(Edited on 12.19.14)
Today I was listening to a Jewish talk show host
on radio. He is the first person I have ever heard
make the statement; "most people get the 3rd com-
mandment wrong. The primary infraction of this
part of the Law of God is when one says he is Jew-
ish or Christian, and fails to live according to the
precepts. He bears the name of the Lord in vain."
(Edited on 1.03.15)
Today as I was listening to a Hebrew scholar the
question was made very clear. The word translated
"take" in the passage under consideration means to
"carry." When you think about it, when one "takes"
something, carrying is implied, so there can be little
authentic disagreement on this subject unless one is
quite picky. I do not claim to have settled the ques-
tion, and if you will comment, feel free to communi-
cate with me at jlrsbnch@msn.com/
I will publish comments with permission. Let
me know when you reach me on email...
jlrsbnch@msn.com
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/01/there-remains-rest.html
7.25.14, donporter,sr edited 10.25.14, 7.02.16
This gives credence to the understanding that
taking the Lord's name in vain may well mean to
assume a mantle of being a follower of the Lord
God without substance of the New Birth in Jesus
Christ or one taking the mantle of Judaism and
failing to live according to the Law of God, again,
not in the Spirit of God, but in the flesh. There is
also this; the Spirit of Jesus Christ has no part of
one who has "known" sin in his life. In order for
one to have Holy Spirit power in his life, he must
come to the Lord God in repentance of that sin,
and live above reproach, so not to bring reproach
upon that Holy name by which he is called or upon
his church. Life in Christ is a work in progress.
We are never to be self-satisfied with our perfor-
mance, but to rely on God in us to do the thing.
Our goal is to please our Lord. In Hebrews 11,"the
hall of faith," we find the secret to a life well plea-
sing to our God;
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the
elders obtained a good testimony." ..."But without
faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes
to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those that diligently seek him."
Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it this way; "Do
what you may, strive as earnestly as you can, live as
excellently as you please, make what sacrifices you
choose: be as eminent as you can for everything that
is lovely and of good repute, yet none of these things
can be pleasing to God unless they be mixed with
faith. As the Lord said to the Jews, 'With all your
sacrifices you must offer salt,' so says to us:" with
all your doings you must bring faith.' (...without
faith it is impossible to please God..."
