What’s In A Name

 

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,

for the LORD will not leave him unpunished

who takes his name in vain.  

Exodus 20:7

 

What exactly does it mean to take the LORD’s name in vain?

We seem to all be united on the fact that using God’s name, any of His names, as a curse word is taking His name in vain. However this was not an issue when God delivered this commandment. The children of Israel then, and still most of the Jewish people and nation of Israel today, so reverenced the name of God that they would not speak it or attempt to even write it out in its entirety. In most Jewish letters and writing you will see the name God written out as G-d.  

So, with this in mind, let us dig a little deeper into this third commandment and see if we can discover exactly what it means to take the name of the LORD in vain. To begin let’s look at the Hebrew translation of the word “vain.” Vain in the Hebrew is shawv and it means desolating; evil as destructive, ruin, guile, uselessness, false, lie, lying and it is from the Hebrew word sho which is an unused root meaning to rush over. Now with this knowledge let’s read this third commandment again, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…”

Oh precious one is it sinking in?

You shall not use the name of God to desolate another.

    You shall not use it for evil in any way.

          You shall not speak lies about the name of God.

                You shall not rush over the name of God.

                        You shall not make the name of God useless.

Have you been guilty of taking the name of the LORD your God in vain?

Let’s dig even deeper.

Let us look at the Hebrew word for name. In the Hebrew the word name is shem. Have you heard this word before? Shem was the name of one of Noah’s sons. Shem is the son through which Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David and yes, Jesus was born.

The word shem means conspicuous position, an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality, honor, authority, and character. In the Bible names are very important. Someone’s name defined who they were, their character, and their position in life. Many times a child would not be named until the parents could tell who he would be, or they named him according to who they desired him to be. A name mattered. It should still matter today.

So my friend, do you see how very vast this command is? It is so much more than just using God’s name as a curse word. It is lying about His character and position by our use of or lack of use of His name. If we do not trust in His name, we take it in vain. If we consider His name as useless, we take it in vain. If we do not trust in the character of our God as defined to us by His names, we take His name in vain. If we rush over His name, not considering Him our strong tower, our refuge, our help, our salvation, our hope… we take His name in vain. If we doubt Him, we take His name in vain.

The Ten Commandments booklet I shared about earlier states that “Many who have heard much about God carelessly assume they know Him- that they have an acceptable relationship with Him. Yet they have never learned really to respect Him. They demean and degrade Him by flippantly using His name in everyday conversation. They unwittingly announce to all who hear them that respect for God is simply not important to them, even though they may believe He exists.”

Oh precious one, spend some time today learning His names.

                    Read through the Psalms and see how often they call attention to the name of the LORD.

If you are indeed a Christian, then you carry the name of Christ and your actions in this name either bring honor to God or blaspheme His holy name. Oh my friend, represent Him well, for He is worthy. Let His name be lifted higher and higher and higher.  

Oh Father,

I carry the name of Your Son. I am Yours. Might I never forget that You are holy and holy is Your name. As I am coming and going in this life may I honor Your name. Let me not disgrace Your most glorious name. Let me never forget that I represent You and I do not want to represent You wrong. I might be the only Bible that another reads and I want to accurately deliver Your truth.

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

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