Thou Shalt Not Take the Lord’s Name in Vain

Text: (Ex. 20:7) "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."

I.       Definition of God’s Name.

A.    It describes the character of God.

1.      The Hebrew name of God in Exodus 20:7 is Elohim.

a)      Which means God is the faithful One,

b)      He is the strong One.

(Ps. 111:9) "He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name."

(Ps. 8:9) "O lord our lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"

(Prov. 18:10) "The name of the lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

2.      Adonai

3.      Yahweh

B.     It describes the nature of God.

1.      When Moses asked God who he should say had sent him to deliver the nation of Israel.

a)      God said, "...Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Cf Ex. 3:13-14

b)      Describes his eternality

2.      The Hebrew name for God here is Jehovah which comes from three Hebrew words.

a)      ‘Yehi’ = future tense; He will be

b)      ‘Hove’ = present tense; being or He that is

c)      ‘hahyAH = past tense; He was

3.      The beasts of Revelation 4:8 say, "...Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."

C.    There are over 300 names for God in the Bible and each one describes who He is to us.

1.      Examples

a)      Yahweh

(1)    Inner most depths of Divine being
(2)    In KJV spelled with Large capital first letter and small caps after that (LORD)
(3)    The pronunciation has been lost due to the Jews unwillingness to pronounce the name they considered to be too holy to be vocalized
(4)    Self-existence, eternal existence
(5)    “I am that I am” cp. to “who wast, and is, and is to come” formulation in the NT

b)      Elohim

(1)    Demonstrates the Trinity (pl. form)
(a)    Some argue for a “plural of majesty”
(b)    This may be true in some cases, but not in Gen. 1:26
(2)    In the KJV “God”
(3)    Most common name for God
(4)    Carries the idea of “fear” or “the Strong One”

c)      Adonai

(1)    Divine authority
(2)    In KJV “Lord”
(3)    Refers to dominion or possession

2.      Conjunctive names

a)      Yahweh-Elohim: LORD God

b)      Yahweh Sabaoth: Lord of hosts

c)      El Shaddai: God Almighty

d)      El Elyon: Most High

e)      El Olam: Everlasting God

f)        Yahweh-jireh: “The Lord will provide”

g)      Yahweh-rapha: “The Lord that healeth”

h)      Yahweh-nissi: “The Lord our banner”

i)        Yahweh-ra-ah: “The Lord is my shepherd”

j)        Yahweh-tsidkenu: “The Lord our righteousness”

k)      Yahweh-shalom: “The Lord of peace”

l)        Yahweh-shammah: “The Lord is there.”

3.      Epithets

a)      King

b)      Law-giver

c)      Judge

d)      Rock

e)      Fortress

f)        Tower

g)      Refuge

h)      Deliverer

i)        Shepherd

j)        Husband

k)      Husbandman

l)        Father

II.     Description of the Commandment

A.    Vain

1.      Blasphemy (Lev. 24:10f)

2.      Swearing falsely by it (Lev. 19:12; Deut. 6:13)

3.      Meaninglessness (Matt. 5:33-37)

4.      Wickedness (Lev. 18:21)

5.      Lack of respect (Lev. 22:1)

B.     Guiltless

1.      Death penalty in Lev. 24:10

2.      Judge every idle word (Matt. 12:36)

C.    Jews reverence for the name of God

The Methods of the Old Testament Guardians. Let us take a look at how the Jews fulfilled this Biblical promise by their strict rules in copying the Hebrew Old Testament. This is from General Biblical Introduction by H. S. Miller written in 1960, pages 184-185. He lists eight rules the Jews used in the copying of the Synagogue Rolls the Old Testament Scriptures. These rules are mentioned in the Talmud:

1.      The parchment must be made from the skin of clean animals; must be prepared by a Jew only, and the skins must be fastened together by strings taken from clean animals.

2.      Each column must have no less than 48 nor more than 60 lines. The entire copy must be first lined....

3.      The ink must be of no other color than black, and it must be prepared according to a special recipe.

4.      No word nor letter could be written from memory; the scribe must have an authentic copy before him, and he must read and pronounce aloud each word before writing it.

a)       For instance "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" You would have to pronounce the word "in the beginning" in Hebrew, ( b 'reshith ); "God," ( Elohim ) ; "created," ( bara) ; "the heavens" (eth hashamaim); "and the earth" (wa eth ha arets).

b)      He had to pronounce every word before he wrote it down, with an authentic copy before him.

c)      He had to pronounce it aloud, not just see it in his mind. This was to avoid any errors, duplications, omissions, etc.

5.      He must reverently wipe his pen each time before writing the word for "God" [which is Elohim] and he must wash his whole body before writing the name "Jehovah" [which is translated "LORD" in our KING JAMES BIBLE] lest the Holy Name be contaminated.

6.      Strict rules were given concerning forms of the letters, spaces between letters, words, and sections, the use of the pen, the color of the parchment, etc.

7.      The revision of a roll must be made within 30 days after the work was finished; otherwise it was worthless.

8.      One mistake on a sheet condemned the sheet; if three mistakes were found on any page, the entire manuscript was condemned.

a)      What if the man got from Genesis all the way through to Malachi and found three mistakes? He would have to start from Genesis and go all the way to Malachi again.

b)      You see the meticulousness with which the Jews were ordered to guard the Words of God? Those men believed that the Words they were copying were God's holy Words. Because of this, they guarded them, unlike men today who add, subtract, and change at will such as has been done in the NKJV, NASV, NIV, and in other new versions. To that extent, they are perversions of truth and Scriptures.

9.      Every word and every letter was counted

a)      Notice that the words and letters were counted. Think of counting all the letters on every page of the Hebrew Old Testament. Talk about exactness. Yet that was the method God used to preserve the Old Testament.

b)      If a letter were omitted, an extra letter inserted, or if one letter touched another, the manuscript was condemned and destroyed at once. " [Miller, op. cit., pp. 184-185] [My comments in brackets.]

c)      These are historic rules the Jews used. Miller also added these words which we should bear in mind: "Some of these rules may appear extreme and absurd, yet they show how sacred the Holy Word of the Old Testament was to its custodians, the Jews (Rom. 3:2), and they give us strong encouragement to believe that WE HAVE THE REAL OLD TESTAMENT, THE SAME ONE WHICH OUR LORD HAD AND WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD. " [Miller, op. cit., p. 185]

III.  Desecration of God’s Name.

A.    Through profanity.

1.      "Ten Reasons I Swear"

2.      Common understanding of profanity.

a)      Crude language in reference to body parts or bodily functions. (example of children)

b)      "Go to hell..."

c)      These and many more are considered profane because of their crudeness.

d)      One of most profane is when the name of the Almighty Holy God is used in a profane manner.

e)      God’s last name isn’t ‘DAMN’

f)        Those who use profanity reveal an inner sickness within them- selves.

(MAT 12:34B) "...FOR OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SPEAKETH."

B.     Through dishonesty.

1.      The warnings in the Scriptures concerning oaths and swearing have to do with attaching God’s holy name to false statements.

2.      (LEV 19:12) "AND YE SHALL NOT SWEAR BY MY NAME FALSELY, NEITHER SHALT THOU PROFANE THE NAME OF THY GOD: I AM THE LORD."

3.      People say, "I swear to God this is the truth..." "As God is my witness..." "...So help me God..."

4.      It wasn’t swearing by God’s name that was the problem...it was swearing falsely.

(Deu. 10:20) "Thou shalt fear the lord thy god; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name."

C.    Through Insincerity.

1.      Using His name when we don’t mean what we say

a)      Be careful of using euphemisms in place of God’s name

b)      Don’t use God’s name flippantly

2.      Praying insincerely (Mt. 6:7)

(Mat 6:7) "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

a)      When we say prayers instead of praying prayers...we desecrate His name

b)      When we sing "O how I love Jesus" but we really don’t ... "I surrender all" but we really won’t.

IV. Declaration of His Name.

A.    Declared in salvation

B.     Declared by our good works