Exodus 20:7
I’ve mentioned that one of the functions of the Ten Commandments is to show us what God is like… what His character is like… what pleases Him… what displeases Him… what is important to Him.
I hope that as we’ve studied the first two commandments (“you shall have no other gods before me”; “you shall not make for yourself a carved image… and bow down and worship it”), and now as we go on to the third commandment (“you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…”), that you are noticing a theme.
God is serious about His glory.
Our primary duty as His people is to honor and glorify Him.
Not because God is some cosmic egomaniac, but because He alone is worthy of our affection and admiration and worship, and He knows that for us to be enthralled with Him above all else is the absolute best thing for us.
Until we center our lives around making much of Him, we are out of alignment and nothing seems to satisfy or make sense. It’s literally what we were created for.
This third commandment is an interesting one, because it touches on an aspect of God’s glory that we perhaps don’t give as much airtime to, and that is, His name.
Exodus 20:7 (ESV): 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Those of us who are parents have at least a limited understanding of how important names are.
You consider all the angles: how it sounds, how it fits with their last name, potential nicknames, how their friends might tease them. It’s always rough when parents strike out on naming their kids.
David Shormann told me that he played little league with a kid whose name was Chevy Ford.
My wife and I took naming our kids pretty seriously, and we were kind of indecisive about it. One of our kids was a couple weeks old before we settled on their name. For another one, we had a different name picked out but when they were born, we changed our minds because they didn’t ‘look’ like the previous name.
Naming is a big deal!
God is the only person in all of existence who was never given a name by someone else.
He simply is who He is. He is self-existent, and therefore self-named. And, what’s more: His eternal self-existence is represented by His name.
When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, in Exodus chapter 3, God had just given him his marching orders to deliver His people from slavery.
And Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you… this is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations…’” (Exodus 3:14-15).
Essentially, what God was saying was, ‘go tell them that the self-existent One sent you. Go tell them that the One who has no origin and no end, and no dependence on anyone for anything sent you.’
There’s only one being in the universe who fits that bill.
Typically in your Bible when you see L-O-R-D it represents the personal name of God, sometimes called the tetragrammaton. Tetra, because it represents four Hebrew letters, YHWH. Since ancient Hebrew had no written vowels, we are left with oral tradition to supply the vowel sounds… and in this case, we come up with the pronunciation, Yahweh.
Tetragrammaton
LORD = YHWH = Yahweh
That is God’s holy name.
But, it is much more than a mere name… it is synonymous with His identity. It represents His whole being and His character. His reputation. So, when the Bible refers to the name of God, it carries a lot more freight than a mere label.
For example:
Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
In this case, David is praising God for who He is as the Creator of all the earth.
Or in Psalm 106:8, he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
In this case, ‘for His name’s sake’ represents more than just God’s name; it represents Him. It’s for His sake. For the sake of all that He is.
There is a literary term for this called synecdoche. It’s when one part stands for the whole.
For example, if I were to say, ‘there are a lot of new faces here today!’... you understand that I’m not just referring to literal faces; I’m referring to the whole person each face belongs to.
Or when you see someone’s car and say, “nice wheels!” It’s a figure of speech that means, “nice car!”.
Or when Jesus said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. Bread represents all of our daily sustenance; it’s not just strictly limited to bread.
In the same way, God’s name represents all of Him.
In fact, the very first sentence of the Lord’s prayer is our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. It’s a request that God’s name be kept holy and revered… which means that God be kept holy and revered.
All of this helps us understand why taking His name in vain is such a big offense.
When we take God’s name in vain, we are treating Him (His holy identity) with contempt.
What it means to take God’s name in vain:
A more literal translation might be: to “lift up” the name of the Lord your God for nothingness”.
To “lift up” God’s name was actually, first and foremost, a legal expression. When witnesses wanted to confirm their testimony as true, they’d lift a hand and swear by God’s holy name.
Lifting up God’s name could also refer to just simply having His name on your lips.
This is not something to get superstitious about.
Some orthodox Jews took this command to the extreme and assumed that they were not to pronounce the holy name of God at all.
In fact, many of them wouldn’t even write out the word God for fear that the paper might be destroyed, and God’s name would be disgraced.
That’s not what God was forbidding in the third commandment.
He wasn’t forbidding the use of His name… we are His people; we are encouraged to call on His name… to use His name… to lift up His name… In fact, the Old Testament alone uses the holy name of God nearly 7000 times!
What the third commandment forbids is not the use of God’s name, but rather the misuse of God’s name.
If we are going to lift up, or invoke, or even simply mention God’s name… it must not be for nothingness. It must not be done trivially, or without consideration.
There are three primary ways to misuse God’s name:
Profanity
Frivolity
Hypocrisy
To misuse God’s name as profanity is to use the holy name of God as a curse word. We’re all pretty familiar with that.
The problem with that is pretty obvious. It directly disgraces God’s name.
To misuse God’s name for frivolity is to use it in a superficial, meaningless or stupid way. It’s not necessarily profane; it’s just meaningless. Careless.
Even saying things like, “God told me…” when you’re not really sure if He did––You just want to add a little credibility to your silly idea.
Think of Jesus’ indictment on the religious leaders of His day… Matthew 15:8–9 (ESV): 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
The third is a little more interesting, and this is what I want to camp out on for a bit…
To misuse God’s name for hypocrisy is to claim the name of God but act in a way that disgraces Him.
When we as God’s people (adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus) claim His name, but don’t really represent Him by our lifestyle, it is a form of taking His name in vain.
2 Timothy 2:19 says, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.
It’s interesting how many people have something about Jesus or God on their instagram bio. The name is there. They’re claiming the holy name of God. And yet, the photos sometimes tell a different story, don’t they?
When we claim to be a follower of Jesus, but then deny Him by our lifestyle or our choices, or the way we mistreat people, or our lack of work ethic, or our self-centeredness, or whatever … that cheapens our use of His name as the supposed banner we live under. It’s false advertising. Like buying a product only to find out it’s a cheap knockoff.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven… many will come to [Him] on that day [essentially claiming His name]... And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’.
Let us not be deceived into thinking that merely claiming God’s name will work like some magic formula to save us. In fact, if our lives don’t actually belong to Jesus, it’ll do the opposite. Rather than saving us, it’ll be the very thing that condemns us.
It’s sort of like the Sons of Sceva mentioned in Acts 19:13-17. These were Jewish exorcists, living during the time of Paul the Apostle. They had heard about the powerful name of Jesus, that Paul was using to drive out demons and heal diseases… and so they figured they’d start saying “Jesus” to. So they tried it on an evil spirit. To which the demon responded, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And it says the demons overpowered them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
Why didn’t it work? Because Jesus’ name will not be used as a lucky rabbit’s foot. Jesus’ name will not be wielded as some encantation. Without true faith in Jesus, there’s no power in calling on His name. He won’t let His name be abused like that.
So we must not claim the name of God with our mouths but deny Him with our lives. That is hypocrisy. That is a form of lifting up His name for nothingness.
What I hope you are seeing is that honoring God’s name is not just about vocabulary; it’s about identity.
I also hope it is slowly dawning on you that, like all the other commandments, all of us majorly blow it in this category. In our own strength, we are utterly incapable of representing God’s name with perfect integrity.
This means the second half of the commandment justly falls on us:
…for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
To hold guiltless is “to let someone get away without punishment”.
So when it says “the LORD will NOT hold us guiltless” it means, He will certainly not allow anyone to get away without punishment who takes His name in vain.
And as with all sins against our holy God, the sin of taking His name in vain is eternally punishable because our God is eternally worthy of having his name honored and esteemed.
Just to be crystal clear: that means that the punishment for lifting up His name without proper reverence is eternally punishable in Hell.
Where does that leave us?
It leaves all of us guilty. Because every one of us has dishonored the name of God either by speech or by action.
So where do we turn to for hope?
As the apostle Paul exclaimed…
Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
Who will rescue me from this fleshly, carnal propensity to disgrace the holy name of God?
His answer? “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our LORD.”
And then he goes on to declare… (and don’t miss this… if you miss everything else today, don’t miss this…)
Romans 8:1–4 (ESV): 8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
There is a way of escaping condemnation as those who have broken God’s laws… as those who have blasphemed His name, as those who have failed to honor Him the way He deserves… And that way… in fact, the ONLY way… is to be in Christ Jesus.
That is, to belong to Christ Jesus. Those who belong to Christ are not condemned. They’re not going to get what all of humanity deserves…
Why?
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
‘Law’ in this case simply means ‘principle’. In other words, this governing principle that rules the hearts of those who belong to Jesus… has set us free from the principle that used to govern us when we were not in Christ Jesus. That governing principle only led to death.
Because we were law breakers by nature. We were governed by our law breaking tendencies.
This is where it ties in to the Ten Commandments…
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
Now, in this case, unlike the previous verses, ‘law’ refers to the Law of Moses, summarized by the Ten Commandments.
So Paul is saying, the Old Testament Law was inherently limited. There was something it could not do.
What could it NOT do? Save us.
Why?
Because we couldn’t keep it.
But according to verse 3, God has done something about that. He has provided another way for us to be made right with Him. We couldn’t get there by obeying His Law… So what did He do?
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
That is referring to Christ’s body crucified, condemned, in our place.
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,
Who is fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law of God?
Christ Jesus. He has fulfilled it for us. So that we could be counted as law-fulfillers instead of law-breakers.
And consequently, something profound happens… when we gain a new identity as law-fulfillers through what Christ has done for us, the result is…
who walk (or live) not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
So, let’s apply this to the third commandment in your life.
You, like the rest of humanity, are a breaker of the Third Commandment of God.
Whether by your words or by your actions, you have disgraced God’s holy name. In so doing, you are guilty and eternally punishable for that sin.
But God, in His love and grace, has provided you with a way to be counted guilt free.
He sent His son, Jesus. The second person of the Trinity. God in the flesh.
Jesus came and perfectly obeyed the law of God, including the Third Commandment. Rather than dishonoring God’s name and misrepresenting God’s name, He perfectly honored and perfectly represented His name in all of His speech and actions.
In so doing, Jesus earned perfect righteousness for us. He lived as our representative.
But, the debt of taking God’s name in vain (along with every other sin) still had to be paid off.
So Jesus didn’t just live as our representative; He then also died as our representative. He took upon His own body the just punishment for our sin. So that the wrath of God against our sin was fully satisfied. The punishment was fully dished out. No more wrath left for us.
And so, those who cling to the Savior in faith, trusting in what He accomplished rather than in our own ability to keep God’s law, are now free from the penalty incurred by breaking God’s law.
And what’s more, we now have the Holy Spirit living in us, and according to the end of verse 4, we will miraculously be able to live in a way that pleases Him.
What’s left for us to do? Nothing but receive the grace and forgiveness available to us through Jesus Christ.
Let me illustrate with a story.
In 1829, a man by the name of George Wilson was convicted of robbing a U.S. mail carrier and threatening to kill him.
Because that is a federal crime, He was sentenced to death by hanging.
But then…
Amazingly, after being prompted by public support, President Andrew Jackson issued a full pardon for Wilson. His death sentence was officially lifted!
But then, a twist…
George Wilson refused the pardon.
This was unanticipated. Nobody knew what to do if someone were to reject a pardon!
It eventually went to the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John Marshall delivered this statement: A pardon is a deed… it is then a private, though official, act of grace. Delivery is not complete without acceptance. If it is refused, it is no pardon.
So, despite having his crimes waved, George Wilson was executed, not because the pardon was inadequate, but because he simply rejected it.
The Bible makes it clear that our pardon in Christ is adequate… but it must be received.
John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life… Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
Acts 2:3 “Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
Romans 10:9–10 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Isaiah 55:6–7 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way... and return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him... for he will abundantly pardon.”
Discussion questions for review:
What’s the big deal with taking the name of the Lord in ‘vain’? Why is it such an offense to God?
What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? What are some ways we see this sin committed today?
It is impossible for us to totally honor God’s name perfectly with our whole lives… therefore we are all guilty before God. What is our only hope of escaping His condemnation?
Is the fact that Jesus lived and died in our place to pay for our sins? Is there anything left for us to do in order to seal our pardon? (Tricky answer: Jesus’ perfect life, atoning death, and resurrection were totally sufficient to cover all sin… but in order for our pardon to be activated, it must be received).
How does someone receive forgiveness?