Transcript

What Everyone Gets WRONG ABout Taking God's Name in Vain

Introduction

You’re most likely familiar with the 10 commandments in the Bible — laws that for the most part are fairly straightforward: “don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t worship idols, and honour your parents.” But of these commandments,  one seems particularly lighter than the rest: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD in vain.” As Christians, we know this is generally something we’re not supposed to do, but there’s also a tendency to limit this commandment to the specific things that we say—as if the whole intent of this rule is not to use words like ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ after we stub our toe. But while yelling these terms isn’t something to be encouraged, as it turns out, this commandment actually means a whole lot more and is critically important for anyone who wants to be a proper Christian. And it all has to do with the specific name that God uses for himself.

The third commandment goes like this: “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.”

It's Basic Meaning

There are a couple of things to note here. The first has to do with the concept of vanity, and this develops the basic understanding of this command. When something is vain, it means that it is empty, or worthless. So the common understanding is that we shouldn’t be saying God’s name in an empty manner or meaningless context.

Believe it or not, devout Jews were so worried about mistakenly using the name of Yahweh in a trivial way that they stopped saying his name entirely.   Rather than risk transgressing the third commandment and using the name of Yahweh, they chose to use titles like Adonai or Elohim in their conversation.  Even when they read out loud from the BIBLE, they replaced God’s personal name with the alternatives that they deemed acceptable. There’s even an element of this in our English Bibles; rather than translating “Yahweh” into English, the Christian translators of the English Bible have often decided to translate “Yahweh” as “the LORD” or “GOD” with all capital letters.

But there’s a second thing of note in this command, and that’s the specific name that God uses — the LORD thy God.

As we said, when we look at this phrase in English, there isn’t all that much to it. But if looked at the the way it was originally written, in Hebrew, there’s an aspect of the command that isn’t so obvious in English.

It's Deeper Meaning

When God told Moses that the Israelites should not take his name in vain, he didn’t use the generic title of “God”, but he used his personal name, “Yahweh.” “Don’t take my name Yahweh in vain.” So this rule wasn’t just about respecting a powerful being or using ‘God’ in a trivial manner. It was about understanding that God has a name, and that his name has a critically important meaning.

In its most basic sense, the name Yahweh has to do with God’s plan to develop a family of men and women who resemble his own character. People who show his characteristics of Godly love, mercy, righteousness, and so on. That’s why, in Exodus 34, when God declares his name, he doesn’t simply say “Yahweh,” but he says “Yahweh, Yahweh, merciful gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth.” His name is intimately connected to who he is. 

We see this principle in action in Genesis chapter 4. When Seth, the younger brother of Abel was born it says “then began men to call themselves by the name of the LORD.” So these faithful people understood the real meaning of God’s name — that he wanted them to take it on themselves, not unlike a bride who takes on the last name of her husband. By taking on God’s name, these faithful people were showing that they wanted to align themselves with God.

So rather than distance ourselves from the name of Yahweh in fear of taking his name in vain, God wants us to embrace it, and all that it represents. He wants us to take it on ourselves, and to embrace a new life where God is put first.

In our age, taking on the name of God is associated with baptism. As Jesus said:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: (Matthew 28:19)

So when a person commits their life to God in baptism, they take on his name. They make a promise to God, much like a vow made in marriage. It’s a promise to take on God’s own characteristics, and to do their best to reflect everything God stands for.

Conclusion

So that’s what God’s name is all about, and knowing it creates a much better foundation from which to understand the third commandment. Taking God’s name in vain is not just about making sure we respect God’s name in casual conversations. Really, its about living up to our commitment to God. To truly take God’s name in vain is to render our commitment meaningless by failing to live a way of life in harmony with God’s principles. It is to neglect our commitment, and turn away from the way of life God wants.

As Christians our goal is to be the best representation of God’s name as we can be. To represent his glory, his character, and his purpose for the earth in the way we interact with others in this world. To do anything less, is to truly take the LORDS name in vain.