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The Third Commandment – The Lord’s Name
I wish our Nation could go back in some ways.
With all my heart, I wish that the Ten Commandments were still taught in grade school and displayed in most schools. It was a time when we were not afraid to call our country a Christian Nation. It was a time when they were posted at school, in church, the Police Station, and almost every courthouse. I believe that it made a difference in how people acted.
The First Three Commandments instruct us on the importance of putting God first in our lives and showing Him the respect due Him. It is vital to our spiritual health, and it is impossible to please God without making these three commands a part of our daily life.
Let us look again at the first three.
Read them out loud if you can.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
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. Exodus 20:3-7 NKJV
Note that these are absolutes:
NO OTHER GODS!
NO IMAGES OF ANYTHING TO WORSHIP!
DON’T USE GOD’S NAME IN VAIN!
Three out of the Ten Commandments deal with honoring God. Our Creator makes it clear that there can be no exceptions or misunderstandings as to our respect for Him. In Exodus 20:5b-6 NKJV, He says, For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Note that God promises punishment for all those who hate Him, in other words, disobey His Commands. However, He also promises to show mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Today, we will consider the Third Commandment.
The Third Commandment goes right along with the first two. There is only one God, and anything we make to represent Him would only be an insult. He is the Almighty God who created the Heavens and the earth. We can’t make anything that could resemble Him or even imagine anything close.
We must be careful even of the use of His Holy Name.
God says it this way in Exodus 20:7 NKJV, “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.”
Yes, it is a simple command, but as a nation, we certainly fail to follow it. Our society has grown used to even our leaders using what we once considered vulgar and inappropriate language that many people don’t notice.
God does notice! He hears everything we say and sees all we do.
Let us look at our two options.
First, let us look at ways we use His Name in vain.
What words you say is not all there is to consider.
There is profanity and cursing.
You must show reverence for God in everything you do and say. He is worthy of all your praise in every action you take in life.
Cursing and profanity are wrong on several levels. Often, people are sincere when they say they never swear or curse. However, in their conversation, they may use exclamations like “God,” “Lord,” ” Lordy,” “Jesus,” or ” Jesus Christ.” One I often hear used, by those who should know better, is “Oh my God!”
Each of these is used without consideration and respect, which is using God’s Name in vain.
These and many other phrases are said in daily conversations without a person giving them a thought.
You need to ask yourself, are you using these or others that do not honor God or His Holy Name?
Besides Profanity & Cursing, there are false oaths.
What do I mean by false oaths? It is when you swear by God that what you say is true, when you do not even plan to do what you say.
This is what Jesus says in Matthew 5:34-36 NKJV. But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
The Israelites were guilty of placing certain values on what holy item a person would swear by, but Jesus pointed out that it was all wrong. We should not swear by anything.
James put it this way in James 5:12 NKJV. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
We are also using His Name in vain when we misrepresent God.
You are using His name in vain when you, as a “Christian,” claim things that God says that He has not said. For example, if you taught that adultery, homosexuality, or any other sins were acceptable to God, this of itself is sin.
There is also justifying evil.
Oftentimes, men have used God’s name in support of war, or some injustice, or even oppression.
If we use God’s name in vain, we break this Commandment. His Name is to always be treated as Holy.
Second, we must always honor His name.
When we speak of God, it should always be done reverently and with meaning. Faithful Jewish people consider God’s Name to be too holy to even be uttered and when they write it, they don’t spell it completely out.
We must bear God’s name with honor.
“Christian” is a title we all carry once we become believers and followers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is up to us to not only call ourselves Christians, but to act accordingly. Calling ourselves Christians becomes a misuse of Christ’s name if we do not live the life to which Jesus called us.
In Conclusion
God makes it clear that He is to be first in our lives. We are not to try to make any thing to represent Him or to worship.
He follows the first two commands with Exodus 20:7 NKJV, where God says, “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.”
Every action we take should bring honor to the Almighty God who created us and sent His Son, Jesus, to save us. We should never treat Him, or His Name, without showing total reverence.
HIS NAME IS HOLY! May we never forget and use it lightly!
Click to go study the other Commandments, The First Commandment – No Other God!, The Second Commandment – No Idols, The Third Commandment – The Lord’s Name