7 “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. Ex. 20:7 NASB
Do not misuse my name, I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name. CEV
No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name. MSG
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power]. Amplified Bible
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 20:7 Using the name of God in a casual, frivolous way establishes a mindset that diminishes and dishonors the omnipotent God. Using the name of God to abuse, manipulate, or deceive invites judgment.
7 Do not use the Lord your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the Lord won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way. Common English Bible
7 You are not to use My name for your own idle purposes, for the Eternal will punish anyone who treats His name as anything less than sacred. The Voice
Most of us know this commandment better in the language of the old KJV—“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
Shakespeare asked the question, “What is in a name?” He goes on to say, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
Well—that sounds romantic, but Shakespeare doesn’t get it quite right. There is a lot in a name.
The name Joshua in the Old Testament is the same name as Jesus in the New Testament—and that name literally means “Salvation of the Lord.” Fitting don’t you think, not only for the Old Testament leader Joshua, who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, but also for Jesus, who leads us today into the Promised Land.
Abram’s name meant “exalted father.” Then God changed his name to Abraham, which means “father of many.” Remember, Abraham then went on to be the father of the nation of Israel.
Simon, in the New Testament, one of Jesus’ disciples, would later become known as Peter. Peter means “the Rock” and Jesus gave him this name after Peter confessed Jesus as the Lord. Jesus gave Simon the name Peter to signify that Peter, understanding Jesus is the Messiah, would be as strong as a rock .
The famous twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first, and when he was born, he was very hairy. The name Esau, that he was given, literally means “hairy.” His brother Jacob was born right after, and Jacob was born hanging onto Esau’s heel. He was given the name Jacob, which literally means, “He grasps the heel.”
Names, especially in Bible times, meant something. Their name would be a mark of who they really were. And that is why folks in the Bible wanted to have a good name, because it marked good character.
And the same is true with God’s name—it marks His character—it is who He is.
In those days, all the gods were given names. They didn’t already have them. They received them. God, however, revealed His name Himself. Nobody gave it to Him. Instead, He revealed it.
Exodus 3:13-14 (TNIV)
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “
He revealed His own name. I Am.
In the culture of the Hebrews, they had such reverence for God’s name that they wouldn’t even pronounce it. They wouldn’t write it. Still to this day, Orthodox Jews won’t write G-O-D. They will write G- – -D.
When scribes, who were copying the Scriptures, got to God’s name, would get up and cleanse themselves so they would be pure to write it. Then, when they did, they would get up again and re-cleanse themselves.
I heard once about a rabbi who was teaching some disciples about God. One of the disciples of this rabbi flippantly said God’s full name, and the rabbi ran out of the room and disappeared for several days. When he returned, people asked him where he had gone. He said that he had heard God’s full name—and he was not worthy to do so—so he disappeared from sight for several days to fast and pray and cleanse himself, because he did not feel worthy to have heard God’s name spoken.
Now, we are New Testament Christians, we can speak God’s name. We can approach Him with confidence.
BUT—we cannot take His name, which reveals who He is…and misuse it.
“Don’t misuse my name.” Don’t take it in vain.
A lot of people think this means don’t swear. People tend to think this is a commandment against using bad language. And, while that is partly true—there is much more to it than that.
The word ‘vanity’ when used in the Old Testament, as in, ‘Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain,’ means to empty His name, to make it valueless, or to make it nothing. To use the name of the Lord in vain means to empty it of its significance and make it irrelevant.
How can we make God’s name mean nothing…or misuse God’s name?
Profanity
Profanity comes from the word profane. Something that is profane is something that is, by definition, not sacred.
Taking God’s name, which is sacred, and using it in a profane way is to take His name and make it not sacred. And, as we have seen, we can’t mess with God’s name, because it is who God is.
When you hit your thumb with your hammer and your response is..…that is taking His holy name and using it in an unholy manner, profanity. Misusing His name.
It’s hard to live in our culture of media and not be affected by some sort of profane use of God’s name.
Colonel Sanders, of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, once said that when he became a Christian he lost half of his vocabulary.
An article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the movie Gone With the Wind, and one of the most famous phrases from that movie, noted what an uproar that caused. Today, we barely bat an eye.
Psalm 19:14 NASB - Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
The words we speak with our mouths must be pleasing to God. This is also true for Jesus’ name.
John 10:30 NASB – “I and the Father are one.”
Lying
Many times, God’s name is invoked in order to make our lies sound less like lies. Do these phrases sound familiar? ”I swear to God it’s true.” “I swear that I will do that for you.” “With God as my witness…”
It’s no surprise that cheating and lying are definite problems for us as humans. Lots of us are good at making sure we don’t say BIG lies, but a lot of us tell little lies to save face.
Psalm 101:7 (TNIV)
7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.
Proverbs 12:22 (TNIV)
22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
The Pharisees of Jesus’ time developed a very elaborate set of rules for oath-taking. They knew it was against the Law to lie, so they created fancy ways of skirting the Law, justifying themselves saying they weren’t actually breaking the Law.
For example…
They insisted that their oaths made “to the Lord” must be kept, but they welcomed the loophole saying that if they avoided the specific name of the Lord, then they wouldn’t be binding. Clever in their speech, they would then swear by heaven, or by the earth, or by the mountains…making sure they didn’t swear by the name of God.
These promises were impressive, but they clearly had no intention of keeping them. They would say, “Yes, you did hear me make that oath…but you didn’t hear me correctly. I swore by heaven, not by God, therefore, my oath is not binding.”
That’s why Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said these words:
Matthew 5:33-37 (TNIV)
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes,’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
If you want to look at the Third Commandment closely, it can be translated “carry.” The KJV says “Thou shalt not TAKE the Lord’s name in vain.” Don’t take it…don’t carry it in vain.
Remember, vanity is emptying God’s name of its value. The Bible says “don’t carry God’s name in a way that will empty it of its value.”
When you read this command, do you see something in it that you don’t see in the others?
Exodus 20:7 (TNIV)
7 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
The Lord lays out the warning about using His name in an unworthy manner. He says He will not ignore it.
He says, ‘I do not want My name maligned, because when you malign My name, you malign Me.’
Consider this story…
Leviticus 24:10-16 (TNIV)
10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them. 13 Then the LORD said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.
Because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, we no longer have to fear stoning in the assembly when we misuse the name of the Lord—but we can learn a final thought.
By obeying this command, we show God the respect that is His.
By using God’s name properly, you show Him respect. Think about it. When someone does something you don’t like, you call them bad names, “you idiot…you fool…etc”—but when you want to show respect, you say something like “Mr. President, Doctor, Mr. Speaker of the House.”
Jesus tells us when we pray, to address God as our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Hallowed…praised…set apart as holy.
God’s name is like no other name…and we shall not misuse it. We shall not empty it of its meaning.
Jesus’ name is powerful and given for our salvation.
Acts 4:12 (TNIV)
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.”
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