TAKING HIS NAME IN VAIN
In this series, I take our law homily from our church gathering each week (The law homily is where we read from the law of God and let His law examine our hearts so that we can be a tender-hearted and repenting people), and I post them here for your edification. Here is this week’s law homily on the prohibition against mental idolatry.
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. - Exodus 20:7
SINNING AGAINST HIS NAME
As the Israelites stood trembling at the foot of Mount Sinai, quaking like Mount Vesuvius with the holy fury of Yahweh's presence, they were confronted with a sobering command: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." This wasn't a trifle prohibition but a severe warning against reducing the limitless majesty of our Creator to the level of the commonplace and ordinary.
In the Hebrew tongue, the word translated as "in vain" is lashav, which means to represent something or someone with "falsehood, lies, or futility." Coupled with the verb tissa, meaning to "lift up or bear," this commandment specifically prohibits lifting up, speaking, or employing God's sacred name that is inconsistent with His character, infinitude, and holiness. Said smply, if we do not lift up His name with the amount of honor and respect it is due, we tell lies about who He is. We misrepresent Him. We break the third commandment.
To violate this command is not just a matter of avoiding profanity but of never utilizing the Lord's name in any way that involves deception, dishonoring, or devaluing His sacred character and being. When we do that, it is not a frivolous sin but bringing disgrace upon the very nature of the one true God by treating His name as unremarkable and ordinary. The name of Yahweh represents His holy presence, so taking it lashav is the utmost disrespect – to misuse God's revealed identity itself.
THE SACREDNESS OF HIS NAME
When we speak about God's name, we are talking about the name above all names - Yahweh, I AM, the Self-Existent One, the Eternal. His name is Elohim, the Mighty Creator. He is Adonai, the Lord and Master. He is El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One, the God who is more than enough. His name is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider. He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our Healer. His name is Jehovah Shalom; the Lord is Peace. He is the name at which every knee shall one day bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. His name is Yeshua, Jesus, Yahweh Saves - the name that saved you and brought you into His kingdom through the blood of the spotless Lamb. Therefore, when we dishonor His name, we ignorantly cheapen the infinite glory and unmatched majesty of the Almighty - the Holy One, the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and Omega, the great I AM. His names reveal His immutable character, eternal nature, and redeeming love. Taking such a name in vain is tragically diminishing the essence of the One True God.
THE SCOPE OF SPEAKING IN VAIN
As said before, we often think of this commandment primarily in terms of coarse profanity – using "God" or "Lord" with other four-letter words in an unholy and abominable combination. And make no mistake, this form of blasphemy certainly violates the command most egregiously. To flippantly defile the holy name as a vulgar utterance manifests a wicked, hardened heart, with complete irreverence for the Almighty. It is an abomination.
But the scope of this sin reaches far beyond just foul and debased language. Any time we invoke God's name rashly, thoughtlessly, or irreverently, we take it in vain. This includes:
Hypocrisy – Claiming to follow Christ but living in unrepentant, willful sin like greed, lust, hatred, drunkenness, gossip, or bitterness is one way of making a mockery of His holy name. When we bear the name "Christian," but our actions blatantly contradict Christ's teachings, we blaspheme that name.
False Oaths – When we swear by God's name in order to amplify our words or to solemnly guarantee something ("I swear to God" or "So help me God"), we violate this command. This uses God's name as a bartering chip to try to validate us, legitimize our words, or substantiate something common. This also includes making promises "in God's name" that we never intend to keep.
Casual Misuse – Flippantly exclaiming "Oh my God," "OMG," "Lord have mercy," or "Jesus Christ!" without any mindfulness or sincere intent of reverencing and hallowing that sacred name is a violation of this command. It expresses a casual, flippant thoughtlessness toward the Lord and a carelessness regarding His name. Other examples are using "Lord" as a casual way to start a sentence or jokingly exclaiming "Lord willing" without meaning.
Disrespecting God's Titles – Using disrespectful language about God like "The Big Guy" or "The Man Upstairs." These diminish God's majesty and are a violation of this command.
Blasphemous Rhetoric – Maligning God's nature, mocking His holiness, or ascribing evil to Him like "God is unjust" or "If God existed, He wouldn't allow suffering" is a violation of this command.
Casual Teachings – Carelessly throwing around God's name while teaching false doctrine or spreading spiritual platitudes without biblical truth is not only bearing false witness about God's nature but it is a violation of this command.
With that, any usage of God's name that is hypocritical, deceptive, casual, disrespectful, or maligning violates this command to hallow God's name as holy. As we have seen, this also includes thoughtless and habitual uses of God's name and any way that does not intentionally revere His name as holy. We violate this command whenever we bring the name of God down, making it ordinary or common. This means we must have a healthy, biblical fear of the Lord that governs how we speak of Him.
Yet, we are all guilty of breaking this command on some level. Even we who strive to honor God sometimes utter His name in futile, habitual ways or use casual irreverence. This was not intentional blasphemy, but it most certainly was unintentional blasphemy, which must be repented of. This should grieve us deeply, for it lays bare the depravity of our sinful human condition before a holy God.
But we must not remain in that sin. The Lord commands us to revere, honor, and hallow His name above all else. We must repent of every vain utterance and turn from hearts that would treat our Creator's name so callously. As Scripture says, "Holy and awesome is His name...O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"
To take the Lord's name in vain is to associate the eternal, all-powerful Creator with emptiness, futility, and worthlessness. It is the polar opposite of the reverence God's name deserves. His name is described as "a strong tower" to which the righteous run for safety, which is why we need to repent. But how can we, who are so prone to sin and irreverence, truly revere God's name as we ought? The weight of this commandment seems unbearable for our feeble human frames.
BEING SAVED BY HIS NAME
That's where Jesus's name takes on profound significance. For His name is not only the name that we must revere, but it is also the one that saves us from our irreverence. In that name—Yahweh Saves—we find the answer to our inability to revere God perfectly. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, lived a life of perfect reverence for the Father's name. He is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His nature.
And in His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus bore the total weight of our irreverence, our vain utterances, our blasphemies against God's holy name. He took our guilt upon Himself so that by placing our faith in His name, we could be forgiven and made new – freed from the burden of profaning God's name.
Jesus doesn't cover our sins; through His indwelling Spirit, He empowers us to live lives that increasingly honor and hallow God's name. The more we abide in Christ, the more our speech and actions will bear the mark of profound reverence.
So if the weight of this commandment feels crushing, if you are convicted of the myriad ways you have taken the Lord's name in vain, then run to the name of Jesus – above all names. Confess your irreverence, let His blood wash you clean, and ask His Spirit to instill in you a reverence for God's name that you could never muster on your own.
For in the name of Jesus, one day every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Let that profound name be forever on our lips and lives.
