"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." - Exodus 20:7
The Third Commandment.
The Word of God is N-dimensional, and this commandment is a really first class example of how intricately every Word of all scripture is connected in concept and in implication. May God give us the power of communication and understanding and help us not sin against His Name!
It seems a simple enough problem - figure out what vain and guiltless mean and we shall have the sense of the command.
Vain - Strong's Hebrew #7723 שָׁוְא [shavʾ, shav /shawv/] n m. From the same as #7722 in the sense of desolating; 53 occurrences; AV translates as "vain" 22 times, "vanity" 22 times, "false" five times, "lying" twice, "falsely" once, and "lies" once. 1 emptiness, vanity, falsehood. 1a emptiness, nothingness, vanity. 1b emptiness of speech, lying. 1c worthlessness (of conduct)."
Strongs Hebrew# 7722 שֹׁוא, שֹׁואָה [showʾ, showʾah, shoʾah /sho/] n m f. From an unused root meaning to rush over; 13 occurrences; AV translates as "desolation" five times, "destruction" three times, "desolate" twice, "destroy" once, "storm" once, and "wasteness" once. 1 ravage. 2 devastation, ruin, waste. 2a devastation, ruin. 2b ruin, waste (of land).
I hope you will agree with me that the overall sense is to avoid the abuse or desolation of the Name of God by using it falsely or emptily. We do this in different ways... each with their own character - enumerated v briefly below - I encourage you to reflect on them at greater length.
1. Using it for no reason at all!
Think about what you are saying the next time you are tempted to say "OMG!!!" ( Yes that counts! and I am not sorry to have caused you now to wince whenever you hear that - you should!) I have also heard the Name Jesus/Jesus Christ used as an expletive- as in J- C- look where you are going... ! (Btw I am the one that is not aware of my actions, why are you asking Jesus to look ? :-) ) and worse... This fits the bill of using His Name in a empty way, one that strips it of all meaning and value, and actually causes it to be used in a negative context.
2. Using His Name falsely.
This when you swear by that Name to add weight to your oath ( e.g. In a court of Law ) but then you lie (commit perjury). You have just perverted His Name to cover yours or another's sin. Most commentators lean towards this explanation - however - this may not be the full explanation (esp. when there is another Commandment not to bear false witness which we shall examine soon). It certainly fits the sense of abuse and falsehood we see in the words used in the Commandment.
Our Lord seems to reference this understanding when He says " Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. " Matt 5:33-37 He makes reference to oaths sworn but sworn by referring to Created things ---not The Name! I wonder if that was intentional.... if we should not swear by created things, we certainly should not swear by His Name because if sin causes us to break our word we are committing a truly great evil. Just be true to your word and if you aren't - for your sake - leave God and His creation out of it!
3. Speaking/Doing things in His Name that He has never sanctioned even though it seems that is what He wants.
Sometimes we like to add weight to our utterances by saying "God showed me.." or "God told me...". If He really did , that's absolutely fine - but if not you are in grave danger of misrepresenting Him. In the OT False prophets were supposed to be stoned to death! Their 'prophetic' utterances were usually those of comfort and encouragement - but they were the opposite of Gods will to warn His people of impending persecution and judgement to get them to repent. Be v careful when speaking on His behalf, because you may not know what His will is for that specific situation. The best way to find out is to read the many many Words God has already spoken and caused to be written down ( Read your Bible !!!! ) and not invent your own scripture....
The most horrific acts in history have been carried out by people who mistakenly thought they were doing Gods will. Our Lord says it like this - " The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." - Jn 15:20-21 They will do terrible things in and for the Name of Jesus and God -( "whosoever killeth you will think that he does God a service" - Jn 16:2) out of IGNORANCE of Gods character and will. Think Crusades, Inquisition, Jihad ....
4. Doing things in His Name , but taking credit for the results!
Pay careful attention to the following passage -
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. " - Matt 7:21-23. Calling Jesus Lord, and doing miracles in His Name is no indication you are a Saved Christian. God will honor His Name by doing miracles where necessary- but you will note in the passage that the accent these people place is on THEM doing the acts for God, not God doing the acts through them (read it again) ! They are taking credit for doing His works in His Name! That is why Christ says they are workers of iniquity... we can do nothing for and without Him, except when He kindly and graciously allows us to be the channels of His Grace and Mercy.
5. We abuse the Name by not leveraging its power. It's like asking a supercomputer to forever add 2 and 2.
Think about it- when we pray- do we pray for big and mighty things to be done in His Name, or are our petitions completely short term, selfish and trivial? Do we demonstrate a lack of faith by praying for provision and protection when these are things He has told us we should not worry about? Shouldn't we pray that His kingdom come ( Our Lord did... ) ?? Shouldn't we pray that the Gospel be preached in every place? Shouldn't we pray for relief for those being persecuted and for release from bondage of the physically and spiritually oppressed? Indeed some do!... but alas - all too few have the faith or the wisdom to use His Name to petition Him for things only He can do to show His Glory!!!!! I am not saying we shouldn't be involving Him in our day to day challenges and trials , but that our petitions need to be wider! That is a command! The Spirit of God should move us to pray for big things that will change the world around us and globally!
" I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." - Psalm 81:10 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." - John 16:23. We have taken this last Scripture and applied it to automatically sign all our prayers 'in Jesus Name' without even thinking - what are we asking for? Does it glorify Him ? Are we asking for things He has already said He will give? Let's not pray on autopilot anymore... but with our hearts and minds and souls fully directed to achieving His Glory!
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If you noticed, we have not yet spoken about the word "guiltless".
Here is the definition Strong's Hebrew #5352 נָקָה [naqah /naw·kaw/] v. A primitive root; 44 occurrences; AV translates as "unpunished" 11 times, "guiltless" five times, "innocent" five times, "clear" four times, "cleanse" three times, "free" twice, "by no means" twice, "acquit" twice, "altogether" twice, "cut off" twice, "at all" once, "blameless" once, "desolate" once, "quit" once, "utterly" once, and "wholly" once. 1 to be empty, be clear, be pure, be free, be innocent, be desolate, be cut off. 1a (Qal) to be empty, be clean, be pure. 1b (Niphal). 1b1 to be cleaned out, be purged out. 1b2 to be clean, be free from guilt, be innocent. 1b3 to be free, be exempt from punishment. 1b4 to be free, be exempt from obligation. 1c (Piel). 1c1 to hold innocent, acquit. 1c2 to leave unpunished.
All is explained when we consider this verse : "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." - Acts 4:12 God cannot hold you to be innocent if you have not sought refuge in the mighty Name of Jesus. If you take that name in vain - your guilt will be on your own head - and for that - you will receive the punishment due. Our Jewish brothers did indeed revere the NAME superficially- they avoided speaking or writing it, but they did not revere the Person whose name it was by following His Law to ensure their redemption. "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. " - Proverbs 18:10 "We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known." - Ps 106:6
Gods name - whether the COVENANT ONE ( YHVH ) that expresses His eternal unchangeable nature as the eternal I AM of Abraham and Moses, or the Name of our Messiah ( YAHOSHUA ) that says God SAVES - below the person of God Himself, is the next most holiest and powerful concept in the Universe. Alpha to Omega, beginning to End - all things were created for and by Him for His Glory and for His names sake. Yet He has glorified something higher than even that ... ! I will leave you with 2 verses to meditate on - one from the OT and one from the NT that express Gods love for His Son, the incarnate Word.
" I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." - Ps 138:2
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. " - Phil 2:5-11
Hallowed be Thy Name!!