The Ten Commandments Part 3
Scriptures: Exodus 20:4-7; Leviticus 24:10-16, 23; Matthew 12:31-32
This is part three of my series on the Ten Commandments. This morning we will be examining the third commandments as found in Exodus 20:7. This commandment says; “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.” The Hebrew word for vain is “Shav.” This word means, “deceit; deception; malice; falsity; vanity; and emptiness.” If you look this word up in the English dictionary it is defined as, “without effect or avail; to no purpose; in an improper or irreverent manner.” As you understand this definition, the one thing that stands out is there is no real “purpose” and I will touch on this more later. As you listen this morning, I ask that you take notes; review what the Scriptures says; and then ask yourself, “What was my reason for using God or Jesus’ name?” Don’t ask yourself this question yet, just write it down and so that when I refer to it later you already have the context.
God told the Children of Israel that they were not to take His name in vain (use His name with deception, malice, falsity and emptiness) and that those who did would not go unpunished. I believe when the verse says we will not go unpunished that the meaning today is different from the death aligned to it in the Old Testament. The Bible says God is just and that there is no darkness in Him. If this is true, and it is, how does God punish? One way to answer this question is this: when we disobey we walk away from God’s hand of blessings and protection. In other words, we set ourselves up for punishment by rejecting what God has said. When we disobey, God is powerless to stop the punishment from coming. Think about that for a moment. When we sin, God cannot stop the consequences of that sin from coming into our lives. And this happens when we take His name in vain. Do you see how serious this is? I know many people teach that through love and grace there is no more punishment for our sins but does the Word teach this? I cannot give you a guide book that says if you do “A” then “B” is the result. What I can tell you is that for every action there is a reaction and unrepentant sins has a reaction. I want you to keep this mind as we review this commandment in more detail.
Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.” His name is a strong tower that the righteous runs into for safety and yet we use that name in many casual conversations oftentimes setting ourselves up to be punished. So what does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? One way to take His name in vain is when we swear by His name – even in our court of Law. When we say “so help me God” we’re saying that God will give witness, will be in agreement, with what we are going to say. So, if a person does not tell the truth, then he is saying God will tell a lie just like he will tell a lie. Now I want you to think about what I just said: the person is saying God will tell a lie. We know that’s a lie. Why? The bible tells us who the father of lies is in John 8:44 and it’s not God! The Children of Israel, having taken Jehovah for their God, would only make mention of His name in reverence. They would only speak His name when appropriate and would not do so haphazardly or casually. They treated God’s name like we do 911. A normal person will only call 911 when they need something or in an emergency. We know when we call 911 help will be coming in most cases. It’s the one number that everyone knows and teaches their kids to call. We teach our kids to only call that number when it’s an emergency. We teach our kids to respect that number as we do. We even have laws on the books about those who call that number in non-emergency situations. Think about it. The 911 number is more reverenced that the name of God or Jesus! When the Children of Israel called on the name of God, they knew help would be coming. We take God’s name in vain through hypocrisy (making a profession of God’s name and not living up to it.) And we all know that when we curse using His name that’s a big “no-no”! But let’s also be honest. After all, we’re family. Some of us, in the past, have made use of these examples and maybe even recently and we need to repent. To repent means that we will not do this in the future because we now know better! You cannot repent just because I tell you that you need to, you actually have to believe that you are wrong and are truly sorry. I hope by the conclusion of this message this is where your heart will be.
In the Bible we find God moments and we find Jesus moments. God moments are seen when He moves; when He acts. We see some of God’s moments in creation. We see a God moment when He calls Abraham to serve Him and fulfilled His promise to Him. We see a God moment with Noah and the flood. We see a God moment in His deliverance of the Children of Israel out of Israel. We also see Jesus moments. He was active in both the Old and New Testament. But speaking to the New Testament we see Jesus moments when He heals the sick and raises the dead. We see Jesus moments when He feeds the thousands and preaches to thousands more. We see a Jesus moment when He is beaten for our sins and dying on the cross. We see a Jesus moment when He is resurrected and appeared to many.
In both the Old and New Testament when people called on the name of God or called out to Jesus, they expected something to happen. They expected to have a moment. They expected healing and/or deliverance. When they called on the name they expected the power to be revealed that went with the name. I just used a variation of word “expected” four times. Those who call on God or Jesus expect or believe that They will be true to Their Word – will be true to what They have promised in the Bible. Folks, when we call on God or Jesus without truly expecting, without truly believing what They say then we are taking God’s name in vain. Let that sink in. Calling on God without faith is taking His name in vain. This goes back to the definition as it relates to purpose. It also goes to the question I asked you at the beginning. Purpose is the reason for which something is done.
Think about this, have you ever called someone by mistake? I mean have you pushed one number thinking that you were actually calling someone else? Back in the early days of cell phones when you paid for every minute used this would have cost you as you wasted minutes because you called the wrong number. When the person answered the phone, what did you say? We normally acknowledge that we called them by mistake and we apologize for interrupting them. That phone call was made in vain because you called a person that you were not intending to call. Do you see where I am going with this? In the Old and New Testament there were times when people called on both the names of God and Jesus, His Son because they needed something. They needed an intervention. Those God and Jesus moments were special because they called on them expecting to receive what they needed. They did not call Their names just to say them, they needed something.
Oh, but that’s not how it is today my friends. While we legitimately have some genuine God and Jesus moments we have many more when we are just taking Their names in vain. Let me contrast for you the difference between those legitimate moments versus when we are just using the names in vain. Here are a few legitimate God & Jesus moments that we should be experiencing daily.
• You’re sick and you praying for healing.
• Praying to God in Jesus name.
• Praising God and Jesus during a worship service, if your worship is coming from your heart.
• Speaking over your circumstances in His name.
• You are struggling financially and thank God for fulfilling His promise to supply all your needs.
Each of these is examples of how and when we should be calling on God through His Son Jesus Christ. The power is in the name so we must use the name. But we must call in faith knowing that God hears and answers. Through our faith, we purpose ourselves when we call on God through Jesus Christ. We have an expectation and it is not in vain! However, there are many times when we are calling on His name in vain. Consider these “everyday” God and Jesus moments that we are having which we really should not be having:
• You are surprised and you yell out their name (sometimes with a few curse words.)
• When you stump your toe.
• When you swear by God.
• When your kids think their nick name is Jesus Christ because that’s the first thing you yell when you’re screaming at them.
• You witness something and you say on my God.
• Something happens and you say “Jesus H Christ!” I do not know what the “H” stand for because I did not know He had a middle name.
• You ask the question “What in God/Jesus’ name were you thinking?”
• When you say, “For the love of God will you please…..”
• When your cursing shifts to high gear and your drop all of the bombs in between using God and Jesus’ names.
• Driving down the street and someone cuts you off.
All of these are representatives of what we might think of as God or Jesus moments. Why, because something happened and those were the first names that came out of our mouths from our hearts. I guess some would justify it and say that it was their one word prayer, but I cannot rationalize that. The reason being is we are using the name without wanting God or Jesus to intercede.
Remember that question that I gave you at the beginning? The question was “What was my reason for using God or Jesus’ name?” This is the question you need to ask yourself whenever you use the name of God and His Son Jesus. If your reason is anything other than calling on His name in prayer or praise or when you are reading Scripture or talking to someone about Them then chances are you might just be taking Their name is vain. This is especially true if you are using Their names when expressing an emotion of anger or frustration and sometimes even happiness. Now how would you feel if your name became the name of choice for someone when they were hurt, frustrated or excited? They stump their toe and they yell Cynthia! They’re fussing at the kids and they call out Darryl! They are cussing someone out and in the midst saying Randy this and Randy that! How many of you would use your father’s or mother’s name when you were frustrated or cussing? Why wouldn’t you if it did not mean anything? How would that make you feel if people used your name in frustration and anger? Would you like it? Would you think it was okay? If you would not like it, and I do not know your answers as I am writing this but I hope you wouldn’t, why do we not think that God would not be offended? I want to read an example of a situation when a man used God’s name in vain. Turn to Leviticus chapter twenty-four.
Leviticus 24:10-16, 23: “Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name (of the Lord) and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) They put him in custody so that the command of the LORD might be made clear to them. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him. You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, if anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death’…..Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”
Let me give you the Clift notes version of what happen. A man got into an argument with another man. During the argument, one man blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. When it was heard, they brought him before Moses to determine how God would have them handle this situation. God’s judgment was that the man was to be put to death. This was the penalty for using God’s name in vain once under the Old Covenant. What would be an example of “us being put to death” today? Obviously, it’s not physical because some of us have blasphemed and we’re still here. But what if what we have done is “put to death, killed” the promises and blessings God wanted to give us because He couldn’t release them? Sometimes I think we forget that we are the ones who tie God’s hands because as we know in Romans 8 He wants to freely give us all things. So, can you say “Thank God for the blood of Jesus?” Through His blood we do not receive what we earn! Now even though we can say that, it does not give us a free ticket to continue using God’s name in vain.
I want to read a few Scriptures to you from the New Covenant. Most of these are self-explanatory but I want you to see that this commandment did not stop with the Old Covenant. In order to understand this from the New Covenant, you need to know what it means to blaspheme. By definition, to blaspheme is to “speak in a way that shows irreverence for God or something sacred; to utter blasphemy.” With this definition in mind, let see what is recorded in the New Covenant.
Matthew 12:31-32: “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” All sin can be forgiven upon repenting except this one – blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is any insulting remark; curse; or even attributing to Satan the works of the Holy Spirit. It is unforgivable if it is done maliciously and knowingly. What we need to know here is that this is done by those who “know” not those who do not. In other words, it is done by those with knowledge of the Spirit and knowingly speaks against Him. Hebrews 6:4-9 and 10:26-31 are good examples of this.
Romans 2:23-24: “You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For ‘The name of GOD is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ just as it is written.” The name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles on account of the vices of the Jews. They made the religion which God had revealed contemptible among the heathen. The Gentiles judged their religion by the scandalous conduct of the Jews. Outsiders always judge a religion by the conduct of those who profess to be a part of it. So non-Christians judge Christianity by the acts of Christians. We blaspheme the name of God when we live contrary to what His Word says.
As I close this morning I want you to go back to the question I asked at the beginning. “What was my reason for using God or Jesus’ name?” I know for some of us hearing this might be difficult because we do not want to see ourselves as ever taking the Lord’s name in vain. That is not who we are, and yet it is what we do. For some their names may provide comfort in distress or even anger, but in reality how their names are used to minimize the importance and power of Their names. I do not believe it’s by accident. The next time you want a movie or a TV sitcom, listen for how many times you hear someone use God and Jesus’ names in expressing anger, frustration or just in casual conversation. It is so widely used that we do not think twice about using them ourselves and we are not offended when others use them. We have “casualized” (I know this is not a word but a reference I made up for this message) their names to the point that we use them without thinking. We do not think “God” before we say His name, we just blurt it out. We do not willfully think “Jesus Christ” before saying His name, we just let it go like we would any other word. Remember when I asked you if you would express frustrations by calling out your parents’ names? I asked you why you wouldn’t if it did not mean anything. The reason we would not do it is because we know our parents and we have respect for them. People take God’s name and Jesus’ name in vain because they truly don’t know and love Them and we follow suit because it has become common for their names to be used in casual conversation. Remember, we would not use our parents’ name like we do God’s and Jesus’ names. I, nor my siblings, and none of you would ever think of talking about our parents in any other way than with respect after we got older. But somehow this is lost on many Christians. We give our parents, bosses, boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses more respect than we do God or Jesus. And lastly, do not forget what I said about how we blaspheme the name of God in how we live. If our lives are not exemplary of what it means to be a Christian then we blaspheme God’s name before unbelievers.
If I am describing your behavior, then you need to decide if you agree with this or not. If you agree and this is a new learning for you, now it’s time to repent. Ask God for forgiveness. Decide now that you will make this change. If you disagree and think I have gone over the deep end, do your own study and then come sit down and talk with me about what you have found. I would be very interested in discussing this with you. It’s never too late to stop, turn around, and walk in a new direction.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
